Three people have been missing and 42 have been rescued after a boat carrying migrants came in distress 27 nautical miles south-west of the island of Crete early Thursday morning.
The migrants had reportedly called the Italian search and rescue center, stating that they were on a boat in distress, and Rome had informed the Greek authorities of the incident.
A Hellenic Coast Guard rescue operation was underway on Thursday morning to locate three persons reported missing after the rescue of 42 migrants who were on a boat in distress, 27 nautical miles southwest of Crete.
According to Greek Coast Guard, a total of 39 undocumented migrants were collected by a ship sailing nearby and were taken to Paleochora, in Chania region of western Crete.
One more undocumented migrant was picked up from the water by another ship and afterwards transferred to Souda airport on Crete, in a helicopter.
A further two individuals were located in the sea 27 nautical miles southwest of Crete and were rescued by a Hellenic Navy helicopter and also taken to Souda airport.
Rescued passengers told authorities that a total of 45 people were on board.
According to local news website zarpanews.gr, all rescued passengers are men, foreign nationals from Egypt and Bangladesh. they have been transferred to a space of the port and will be transferred to the mainland once they have been registered and eventually identified.
A Ssearch And Rescue (SAR) operation was launched for the three missing people on Thursday morning and the SAr continued also in the afternoon with the participation of five ships sailing in the vicinity, a Coast Guard rescue boat and a Hellenic Navy helicopter.
