The United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on Friday for urgent and effective measures to avert recurring deadly accidents in the Mediterranean.

The two organizations alluded in particular, in a joint statement, to the tragic accident that happened off Greece on June 14, when A boat boarding hundreds of immigration seekers capsized.

Up to 104 of the passengers have been rescued alive and 78 corpses have been retrieved from the waters so far, it said.

Hundreds others are missing and feared dead, the joint statement added.

The two organizations urged ships’ captains and states’ authorities to help to people in such distress regardless of nationality and their intentions.

The Mediterranean has become notorious for claiming lives of people seeking illegal immigration in Europe.

Source: Kuwait News Agency