Milos: A boat with 17 passengers sank, large rescue operation

Alarm in Milos for a yacht with 17 passengers that sank in the sea area 16 miles northwest of the island on Thursday morning.

According to the Coast Guard, the boat bears the flag of Great Britain, while the reasons for the accident remain unknown, as well as the nationalities of the shipwrecked, who have fallen into the sea.

The rescue operation is in full swing and at the point they are rushing to:

• three vessels of the Coast Guard
• two floating vessels
• one Navy helicopter and one Air Force helicopter

Collecting the wreck has been undertaken by a seajet ship.

For his part, the mayor of Milos, Manolis Mikelis, pointed out when speaking to SKAI that the shipwreck occurred between Antimilos and Falconera.

"We are trying to get people. There is also a helicopter near the area. I know that boats have also left Milos, we have no idea if they were Greeks or foreigners," he told SKAI.

At the same time, he claimed that winds of seven beauforts are blowing in the area and the operation is difficult because there are several currents, while another shipwreck had occurred in the same place in 1966.

The Spokesman of the Coast Guard, N. Kokkalas, underlined that superhuman efforts are being made to rescue the shipwrecked who have fallen into the sea while there are no children among them.

The circumstances of the accident are not yet known.

Milos is a popular tourist destination for British tourists during the summer.

The island is well-known for the statues of Greek gods Asclepius, Apollo, Poseidon and Aphrodite.

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