At least five migrants have drowned after their wooden boat capsized near Greece’s southern island of Gavdos, the coastguard reported on Saturday. Witnesses stated that many more remain missing as rescue operations continue.

So far, 39 men, mostly from Pakistan, have been rescued by cargo ships operating in the area. They were transferred to the island of Crete. The exact number of those still missing has yet to be confirmed, according to the coastguard.

The search efforts involve coastguard vessels, merchant ships, an Italian frigate, and naval aircraft after Greek authorities were alerted about the incident on Friday night.

In separate operations on Saturday, a Malta-flagged cargo ship rescued 47 migrants from a boat about 40 nautical miles from Gavdos, while a tanker saved 88 more migrants around 28 nautical miles from the same area.

Initial investigations suggest that the boats departed from Libya.

Greece has long been a key entry point for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia seeking to reach the European Union. During the 2015-2016 migration wave, nearly a million people arrived on its islands, mainly using inflatable boats.

Over the past year, shipwrecks involving migrant boats off Crete and its neighboring island Gavdos have increased. One of the deadliest incidents occurred in 2023 when an overcrowded vessel sank off Pylos, a Greek coastal town, resulting in hundreds of deaths in one of the Mediterranean’s worst maritime tragedies.