The Cypriot Joint Rescue Coordination Center said it received a distress signal from the boat early in the morning and also a message from a tanker sailing nearby saying the situation was precarious as weather conditions in the area were bad.
State televisions showed pictures taken from a Cypriot police helicopter showing people sitting on the main deck of what it appeared to be a fishing trawler.
Ministry of Defense sources said that people on board are refugees, including many women and children, possibly fleeing the fighting in Syria.
Briefing reporters, Defense Minister Christoforos Phokaides said measures are being taken to rescue the people on the boat if they are in real danger and bring them on Cypriot soil.
The Defense Ministry, which is in charge of rescue operations, dispatched two helicopters and two police launches to the rescue area southwest of the city of Paphos.
The tanker which first spotted the boat is staying by the boat and a Cypriot cruise ship, the Salamis, which sailing nearby, was also diverted to the rescue area to take on people if necessary.
Sources:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
25/9/14
--
-
Related:
VIDEO. A Lampedusa, des huées pour accueillir Barroso et Letta. -"Honte !" "Assassins !".
Naufrage de 500 migrants: seulement dix rescapés...
About 500 migrants are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean when the boat they were on was apparently rammed by human traffickers, an International Organization for Migration (IOM) representative said Monday....
UN deeply concerned at rising deaths from boat accidents in the Mediterranean
Νέοι κανόνες για την αναζήτηση και τη διάσωση στη θάλασσα μεταναστών. - Εγκρίθηκε από το Ε.Κ. σήμερα με 528 ψήφους υπέρ, 46 κατά και 88 αποχές
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Almost 350 people, thought to be Syrian refugees, have been rescued by a cruise ship off Cyprus after their boat ran into trouble in rough seas....
ReplyDeleteThey were taken aboard the ship, Salamis Filoxenia, Limassol port master Girgos Pouros said. All are said to be in good health.
The Cypriot defence ministry said 52 children were on the small fishing boat that had sent a distress signal.
They were spotted 55 nautical miles (100km) south of the town of Paphos.
The defence ministry said all 345 people on board the fishing boat had been rescued.
"It was quite a difficult operation," Kikis Vasiliou, director of Salamis Cruises that owns the cruise ship, was quoted as saying by the Cyprus Mail website.
"All the passengers are safe.".................http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29358265
25/9/14