A ninth body has been recovered off the southern Greek island, Kythera, where a vessel carrying 95 refugees was overcome by gale-force winds, struck rocks and sank last Wednesday.
The Hellenic coast guard said on Tuesday that the body of a woman was located near the wreck site and that another six people are believed to be missing.
The overcrowded yacht had left Turkey last Monday, October 3 and was headed through Greek waters for Italy when it veered off course.
At the time of the sinking, residents and emergency services rushed to help, using ropes and improvised slings to rescue 80 refugees, 13 of whom were taken to Kythera’s hospital.
Despite strong winds initially hampering the search, two women and six men were found dead in the incident last week.
Amongst those still missing is an Egyptian man suspected of having captained the vessel.
One survivor, a Syrian man, has been charged with belonging to the migrant-smuggling ring that arranged the passage, for which migrants paid 9,000-10,000 euros each, AP News reported.
Athens has blamed the tragedy on Ankara’s unwillingness to implement the agreements it has signed with the European Union to prevent migrant boats from reaching European shores.
“As long as Turkey does not apply the laws, as long as it backs traffickers, as long as it does not honour the agreements it has signed, we will unfortunately also be faced with such tragedies,” government spokesperson Giannis Oikonomou told journalists at a regular briefing last Thursday.
READ MORE: ‘An unbelievable sight’: At least 23 dead as two refugee boats sink off Greek coast
