Cyprus launches rescue mission for 300 refugees off coast

Cypriot emergency services launched a rescue mission Sept. 25 for about 300 people thought to be Syrian refugees - mostly women and children - on a boat stricken in rough seas, the government said.

The authorities were responding to "a radio distress signal" due to "bad weather" from the boat about 50 nautical miles southwest of the tourist hub of Paphos, the defence ministry said.

"On board the ship are about 300 people [mostly women and children]that require recovery and rescue because of bad weather conditions in the area," it said in a statement. "The ship probably comes from Syria with civilian refugees."

• Aerial photographs released by the ministry showed a large fishing trawler overloaded with people in heavy seas.

Cypriot state radio reported that two police patrol boats and a cruise ship had been dispatched to the location after a warning that the boat was in danger of sinking.

The defence ministry said that state medical facilities had been notified to prepare for an influx of people from the boat, without saying anything about their condition.

In August 2012, seven Syrians, including two children, drowned when the boat which they were sailing to Cyprus to escape the conflict in their homeland sank off the island's northern coast.

The Cyprus island is located about 100 kilometres from the shores of war-ravaged Syria.
AFP
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/cyprus-launches-rescue-mission-for-300-refugees-off-coast.aspx?pageID=238&nID=72158&NewsCatID=351
25/9/14
--------------------------

• Cyprus search and rescue underway for 300 people stranded at sea ...

A search and rescue operation was underway off Cyprus on Thursday for 300 people stranded at sea who authorities suspect may be refugees from Syria.
Authorities said they received a distress signal early on Thursday morning from a small vessel sailing some 50 nautical miles (92 km) south-west of the town of Paphos, on Cyprus's western coast.

"We estimate about 300 people are on board the boat, most of them women and children," a ministry spokeswoman told Reuters. "They are on a small fishing boat and are possibly refugees from Syria."
Photos taken from a Cypriot army helicopter showed dozens of people sitting on the main deck of what appeared to be a commercial trawler. Weather conditions in the area were bad.
The condition of the boat's occupants was not immediately known. Cypriot authorities were making arrangements to receive and provide medical treatment to the migrants, the defence ministry said.
State radio said that, as well as coastguards, a cruise boat was sailing to the scene to offer assistance and a tanker was also on site. 
REUTERS
http://www.todayonline.com/world/cyprus-search-and-rescue-underway-300-people-stranded-sea
25/9/14
--
-
Related:

• VIDEO. A Lampedusa, des huées pour accueillir Barroso et Letta. -"Honte !" "Assassins !"

• Commissioner Malmström deplores loss of life in boat tragedy between Libya and Lampedusa 

  ---

  • Syria crisis: an extra €112 million to prevent a lost generation of children (EC -24.09.14)