Search for survivors continues as police believe as many as 500 people remain missing
Greece’s coastguard has defended itself from mounting claims that it could have prevented the sinking of a fishing boat in the Mediterranean feared to have caused hundreds of deaths, as the UN called for urgent action to prevent further tragedies.
Officials said on Friday a helicopter, a frigate and three smaller vessels were continuing to search 50 miles (80km) from the southern town of Pylos where the boat, reportedly carrying between 400 and 750 people, sank on Wednesday in some of the deepest waters in the Mediterranean.
