The search and rescue operation was coordinated by the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, with the participation of a Frontex vessel. Thirty-one people were rescued alive, while the body of the deceased man was transferred along with them. The competent authorities are investigating the causes and circumstances of his death.
Those rescued were transported to the port of Karave in Gavdos, where reception and first aid procedures were carried out.
In separate incidents in the wider sea area of Gavdos, another 158 refugees and migrants were rescued, while an additional boat was located on the southern coast of the Heraklion regional unit.
The 158 people rescued near Gavdos, including seven women – one of whom is pregnant – are expected to be transferred to the exhibition centre of Agia in Chania, which is being used as a temporary accommodation facility. According to the Deputy Mayor for Social Policy of the Municipality of Chania, the facility is already hosting 517 people who arrived in Crete in recent days, with the total number expected to rise to 675.
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