Vessel loaded with immigrants heading to Italy makes distress call

Mar 22, 2011, 9:09 GMT

Athens - Dozens of illegal immigrants sailing on a wooden vessel towards Italy issued distress calls on Tuesday after their boat was taking on water, reports said.

Greek coast guard vessels and a helicopter were heading to the western Ionion island of Paxous where boat was last spotted by the cargo ship Alejandra, approximately 28 nautical miles west of the island.

Report said a Kurdish man made an emergency call to the port authorities on the Ionion island of Corfu saying that he was among approximately 150 Afghan immigrants aboard the 30-metre vessel. He said that the boat was taking on water.

Coast guard officials said the Kurdish man and the other immigrants had departed for Italy from the Greek western port city of Igouminitsa.

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants try to enter Greece each year in an attempt to travel to other parts of Europe. The majority of fatal accidents involving migrants occur in the Aegean Sea, as migrants try to sail from Turkey to Greece.

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