A photo of some of the people aboard the stranded boat in the Mediterranean Sea
A boat with about 85 Iranian and Afghan passengers, including 30 women and children, has been stranded in the Mediterranean waters, Iran International has learned.
According to the pictures, videos and audio files obtained by Iran International, about 70 passengers of the boat, which set off its journey on Wednesday, August 24, are Iranians.
The boat has been stranded in west of Greece since Thursday due to an engine failure and one of the asylum seekers in the videos says that they have contacted the Greek and Italian coast guards, but no one came to their aid. The refugees on the boat said that they have run out of food.
One of the relatives of the asylum seekers, who lives in Denmark, told Iran International that the boat left from Turkey.
In the videos, some refugees are seen who are trying to swim to reach the nearest shores.
Last December, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that at least eight Iranian Kurdish refugees died as they aimed to escape from Iran to Europe in the past several months.
Iranians – who have a long history of emigration, particularly since the 1979 revolution -- constitute a large number of migrants who begin trying to reach the UK by undertaking dangerous journeys across the English Channel, as well as to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.