Video footage emerges showin migrant-laden trawler before it capsized; subsequent rescue operation

Video footage emerged on Friday showing scenes prior to the capsizing of an ill-fated fishing trawler loaded with people attempting to illegallly reach Italy, a tragic maritime accident that has officially claimed the lives of 78 people – although hundreds are feared dead. One-hundred and four people, all males, were rescued.

The would-be migrants hail mostly from Egypt and Syria, although a small number declared themselves as Pakistani nationals, and two men said they were Palestinian.

In one video segment, food and water is shown being transferred from a freighter to the rundown vessel by being tied to a life preserver, and then pulled towards the latter.

A crewmember of the freighter describes the procedure on tape.

The video was first shown by Greek national broadcaster ERT, with the source cited as the defenceline.gr site.

Earlier, Greece’s national defense general staff also released footage taken from a helicopter participating in the rescue operation, some 47 nautical miles from the southwest harbor town of Pylos.

The first images were broadcast in the morning by the BBC, showing a Hellenic Navy frigate in the area and a helicopter flying above the spot when the trawler sank.

That footage was taken by a passenger aboard the cruise ship Celebrity Beyond