Four People Found Dead On Abandoned Cargo Ship Taken To Italy

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At least four people have been found dead on a cargo ship carrying around 900 clandestine migrants, which was found adrift in Greek waters, the Red Cross says.

The Blue Sky M had apparently been abandoned by its crew and at one point seemed to be heading directly towards the Italian coast on autopilot.

The migrants, believed to be mainly Syrians and Kurds, have been taken to a local school and gymnasium where an identification process is under-way.

The exact number of people on board is still not known. Italian authorities had originally thought there were 600-700 passengers, but by the time the ship reached the port city of Gallipoli, the estimated number had risen.

Police and maritime authorities will investigate how the migrants, including a heavily pregnant woman, came to be hidden on the Blue Sky M as it sailed to the Croatian port of Rijeka.

The Blue Sky is listed as a general cargo ship, flying under a Moldovan flag.

The safety manager of a company hired to provide safety certification for the ship told the BBC he had withdrawn its certificate several months ago after finding it unsafe

Weather conditions in the Ionian sea have been poor for several days, hampering the rescue of those on board the Norman Atlantic ferry which caught fire in the area, killing at least 10 people.

Civil war in Syria and upheaval in Libya have swelled the number of people crossing the Mediterranean in unstable boats this year, often bound for Italy and Greece.

The United Nations refugee agency says 160,000 migrants arrived in Italy using this method by November 2014 and a further 40,000 in Greece. Thousands more have died attempting the journey.

The post Four People Found Dead On Abandoned Cargo Ship Taken To Italy appeared first on Channels Television.

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December 31, 2014 |

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