Greece: Boat with hundreds of migrants safely towed to port

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say a dilapidated fishing boat crammed with hundreds of migrants that lost steering and had been drifting in the Mediterranean south of the Greek island of Crete has been successfully towed to port. The coast guard launched a major rescue operation after receiving a distress call overnight, which said the vessel was drifting in rough seas off southeastern Crete. Greece’s migration minister said there were approximately 400 people on the vessel, down from his initial estimate of 500. He said it was unclear where the vessel had sailed from. In a letter later Tuesday to the European Commission, Mitarachi requested that the migrants be relocated to other European Union nations in solidarity with Greece.