奇速英语

Near the coast of southern Greece, a boat turned over. At least 79 people have died. More than 100 have been rescued. People who got to live said that hundreds more people were on board. The government says this is one of Greece’s biggest tragedies. It has announced three days of mourning (哀悼).

The boat went down about 80 km south-west of Pylos after the coast guard said it had refused help. The coast guard said the boat had been seen in international waters late on Tuesday. They tried to get in touch with the boat several times and offered help. But every time they were told: “We want nothing more than to go to Italy.”

A few hours later, someone on the boat told the coast guard that there were some problems with the boat. The team took action right away. But the strong wind made things difficult. After a very short time, the boat turned over. It only took ten to fifteen minutes to go down completely.

Alarm Phone, an emergency helpline for people in trouble at sea, said the coast guard “knew the ship being in trouble for hours before any help was sent”, adding that they “had been told by different people” that the boat was in trouble.

The boat is thought to have been going from Libya to Italy, with most of those on board believed to be men in their 20s. They had been travelling for days. The boat met a Maltese ship on Tuesday afternoon that carried food and water. The coast guard said that three people had been taken to the police station in Kalamata. They were questioned for trading in human beings.