A fishing boat crammed to the gunwales with migrants trying to reach Europe capsized and sank on Wednesday off the coast of Greece, authorities said.
In one of the worst disasters of its kind this year, at least 79 people are dead and many more are missing. Coast guard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft fanned out for a vast search-and-rescue operation set to continue overnight.
It was unclear how many passengers were missing, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been aboard when the boat went down far from shore. An aerial photograph of the battered blue vessel released by the Greek coast guard showed scores of people covering practically every inch of deck.
