Two foreign nationals, most probably both French, were drowned in western Greece when their sailing boat capsized during the storm that stoke the country on Sunday evening.
The small boat capsized and sank near the pier of Antirio in the Gulf of Corinth, while winds were blowing with intensity of over 8 Beaufort.
According to local media, one of the men sent SOS signal short after 8 o’ clock on Sunday evening. It seems that one of the passengers was already off board.
Port Authorities and the Fire Service immediately launched a search and rescue operation.
They soon discovered the body of one of the men close to the capsized boat.
The body of the second passenger was discovered and retrieved early Monday morning.
The wallet and the passport of one of the men was found.Efforts to fully identify the two men continue.
Reports indicate that the boat had bound for the area of Makynia and that due to severe weather conditions the sailors attempted to reach a safe destination in the port of Nafpaktos.
Authorities suggest that the accident occurred in the open sea but the gale-force winds swept it to the pier of Antirio.
UPDATE 12:08: According to state broadcaster ERT TV one of the storm victims is Greek. However, there has been no official confirmation, so far.
UPDATE 04:00 pm: The two men were Greek fishermen, aged 57 and 59, local media report late on Monday afternoon. They were residents of Piraeus in West Attica. The boat had a French flag and this was apparently the sign that led to wrong clues about the victims nationality.
With info from nafpaktianews
