Pope Francis Sent Condolences Following Possibly One of the Worst Migrant Boat Tragedies off the Coast of Greece
Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolence to the Apostolic Nuncio in Greece, following what may be one of the worst migrant tragedies in Mediterranean waters. The shipwreck occurred off the coast of Greece, on Wednesday the 14th of June.
The UN released that latest reports said the bodies of at least 79 men, women and children had been recovered, with hundreds more potentially dead or missing. The UN migration agency (IOM) estimated that at least 400 had been on board, adding that 104 survivors had been brought to shore by the middle of the day, local time.
On Tuesday, IOM released figures showing nearly 3,800 people had died on migration routes within and from the Middle East and North Africa last year – the highest number since 2017, when 4,255 deaths were recorded.
Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolence addressed to Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawłowski, Apostolic Nuncio in Greece, after hearing of the tragedy.
In the telegram signed on his behalf by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope writes that he is "deeply dismayed to learn of the shipwreck off the coast of Greece with its devastating loss of life."
Offering heartfelt prayers "for the many migrants who have died, for their loved ones and for all those traumatised by this tragedy", the Holy Father invokes the Lord's gifts of "strength, perseverance and hope" upon the survivors and the emergency personnel providing them with care and shelter.
Hopes of finding more survivors are less and less. The majority of those who survived the shipwreck are men, who tell the same stories - with similar figures - of the numbers of passengers on the ship, including the amount of people locked in the hold, of whom an estimated 100 were children.
The coastguard said that initial contact was made with the finishing boat at around 2pm local time the day before it sank, and that no request for help had been made.
A few hours before the ship sank, at 6pm, a Maltese-flagged ship provided food and water to the ship, whilst another boat provided water just three hours later.
At around 01:40 on Wednesday, someone on the boat is said to have notified the Greek coastguard that the vessel's engine had malfunctioned.
Shortly afterwards, the boat capsized, taking only 10 to 15 minutes to sink completely.
Sources : Vatican News and UN.org
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