At Least 59 Migrants Dead, Dozens Missing After Boat Capsizes

At least 59 people have died and dozens of others remain missing after a migrant boat was capsized and sank in the Mediterranean Sea early Wednesday (June 14) morning, ABC News reports.

At least 104 people were reported to have been rescued after the vessel sank about 54 miles off the coast of Pylos at around 2:30 a.m. local time, the Greek Coast Guard confirmed. As many as 650 migrants were reported to be on board when the incident took place.

The Greek Coast Guard led rescue efforts, which included six of its vessels, as well as a Greek Navy frigate, a military transport plane, an Air Force helicopter, several private vessels and a European Union border protection agency drone all being used, the agency confirmed via ABC News. Survivors were reported to be transferred to a hospital in Kalamata, located in the southern region of the country.

The 300-foot yacht Mayan Queen IV was used to pick up some of the surviving victims. The Coast Guard initially contacted the vessel as it was traveling through international waters on Tuesday (June 13), hours before the crash, the branch confirmed in a statement shared on its Twitter account.

A ship had approached the migrant boat with supplies later on Tuesday, but passengers refused additional assistance, instead saying they wanted to continue toward Italy, the Coast Guard confirmed on Wednesday.

The rate of migrant boats illegally crossing the Central Mediterranean has reportedly quadrupled in the first four months of the year compared to the same period one year prior. Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, reports that more than 42,200 crossings took place between January and April, the highest total ever recorded since the agency began tracking data in 2009.