AFP, Ierapetra :
Around 700 migrants aboard a freighter that had been drifting in the Aegean Sea for two days began disembarking on the Greek island of Crete on Thursday, local officials said.
The migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, include “a lot of women and children”, said Theodosis Kalantzakis, the mayor of Ierapetra.
The Kiribati-flagged freighter Baris was towed to the seaside town of Ierapetra after suffering engine failure on Tuesday.
A team of doctors in protective gear as a precaution against the Ebola virus boarded the vessel and are inspecting the passengers before they are allowed to disembark.
None of them have required hospitalisation so far, doctors on the scene said, but conditions on board were seriously cramped.
“There are no cases of serious illness,” said local health worker Giorgos Hiristakis.
However, a pregnant woman on board the ship was airlifted to the island capital of Iraklio by a Greek navy helicopter on Tuesday.
Before the operation began, Greek special forces disarmed and arrested seven men on board the freighter as suspected migrant-smugglers, a local police source said.
Around 700 migrants aboard a freighter that had been drifting in the Aegean Sea for two days began disembarking on the Greek island of Crete on Thursday, local officials said.
The migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, include “a lot of women and children”, said Theodosis Kalantzakis, the mayor of Ierapetra.
The Kiribati-flagged freighter Baris was towed to the seaside town of Ierapetra after suffering engine failure on Tuesday.
A team of doctors in protective gear as a precaution against the Ebola virus boarded the vessel and are inspecting the passengers before they are allowed to disembark.
None of them have required hospitalisation so far, doctors on the scene said, but conditions on board were seriously cramped.
“There are no cases of serious illness,” said local health worker Giorgos Hiristakis.
However, a pregnant woman on board the ship was airlifted to the island capital of Iraklio by a Greek navy helicopter on Tuesday.
Before the operation began, Greek special forces disarmed and arrested seven men on board the freighter as suspected migrant-smugglers, a local police source said.
