Nine survivors from a migrant boat that sank off the Greek coast on Wednesday have been arrested - as hundreds are feared dead in the tragedy.
At least 78 people died when the overloaded fishing vessel flipped and capsized in international waters south-west of Greece early on Wednesday.
Authorities rescued 104 people but hundreds are feared missing, with some witnesses saying up to 750 people were aboard, and reports the boat could have contained as many as 100 children.
The ship’s captain was among nine survivors arrested on Thursday on suspicion of smuggling, according to news agency AFP.
It came as hope faded for the hundreds of missing passengers and attention turned to Greece’s failure to act before the overcrowded ship capsized.
Those arrested are Egyptian nationals, according to AFP.
Rescue ships on Friday continued to search for hundreds of migrants after the overcrowded boat capsized as it travelled from Libya to Italy, though chances of finding more survivors are feared minimal.
It is estimated up to 750 were on board the boat that went down in the Mediterranean Sea. So far, 104 have been rescued.
Authorities fear that many more may have been trapped below deck.
Survivors told the BBC up to 100 children may have been on board.
“The chances of finding (more survivors) are minimal,” retired Greek coast guard Admiral Nikos Spanos told state-run ERT television.
Kassem Abu Zeed caught the first flight from Germany to Greece after hearing that his wife and brother-in-law were on board the trawler.
“The last time we spoke was eight days ago, and she told me that she was getting ready to get on the boat,” Abu Zeed told the Associated Press.
He said she had paid $5,000 to smugglers “and then we all know what happened”.
Mr Abu Zeed, a 34-year-old Syrian refugee living in Hamburg, said Esra Aoun, 21, and her 19-year-old brother, Abdullah, risked the dangerous crossing from Libya to Italy in a battered trawler after they failed to find a legal way to join him in Germany.
A huge search-and-rescue operation involving a dozen ships and three aircraft has found no survivors since its initial phase early on Wednesday.
None of the survivors were women.
Authorities fear that hundreds of people, including many women and children, were trapped below deck when the overcrowded trawler capsized in the night in deep waters about 45 miles offshore.
The UN migration agency, known as IOM, estimated that the vessel was carrying 700 to 750 people, including at least 40 children, based on interviews with survivors.
That could make the sinking one of the deadliest ever recorded in the central Mediterranean.
Erasmia Roumana, head of a United Nations refugee agency delegation, said the survivors were in shock.
“They want to get in touch with their families to tell them they are OK, and they keep asking about the missing. Many have friends and relatives unaccounted for,” she said.
In other developments, nine survivors were arrested on suspicion of belonging to the smuggling ring that arranged the voyage, the coast guard said. State-run ERT TV said the suspects were all Egyptian nationals.
Greece declared three days of mourning, and a Supreme Court prosecutor ordered an investigation.
Greek authorities said the vessel appeared to be sailing normally until shortly before it sank and that the ship declined repeated offers of rescue. But a network of activists said they received repeated distress calls from the vessel during the same time.
The Greek coast guard said it was notified of the boat’s presence late on Tuesday morning and observed by helicopter that it was “sailing on a steady course” at 6pm.
A little later, Greek search-and-rescue officials reached someone on the boat by satellite phone, who repeatedly said that passengers needed food and water but wanted to continue sailing to Italy.
Merchant ships delivered supplies and observed the vessel until early Wednesday morning, when the satellite phone user reported a problem with the engine. About 40 minutes later, according to the coast guard statement, the migrant vessel suddenly began to rock violently and then sank.
Coast guard experts believe the boat may have run out of fuel or experienced engine trouble, with movement of passengers causing it to list and ultimately capsize.
Alarm Phone, a network of activists that provides a hotline for migrants in trouble, said the problems began much earlier in the day. The network said it was contacted by people on the vessel asking for help shortly after 3pm. They said they “cannot survive the night”.
Around 6.20pm, Alarm Phone wrote, migrants reported the vessel was not moving and that the captain had abandoned the ship on a small boat. The two accounts could not immediately be reconciled.
Experts said maritime law would have required Greek authorities to attempt a rescue if the boat was unsafe, regardless of whether passengers requested it. Search and rescue “is not a two-way contract. You don’t need consent,” retired Italian coast guard Admiral Vittorio Alessandro said.
An aerial photograph of the vessel before it sank released by Greek authorities showed people crammed on the deck. Most were not wearing life jackets.
Eight of the survivors have been questioned by coast guard investigators.
The bodies of the dead migrants were moved to a morgue outside Athens, where DNA samples and facial photographs will be taken to start the identification process.
