IERAPETRA: Around 700 migrants aboard a freighter that had been drifting in the Aegean Sea for two days began disembarking on the Greek island of Crete on Thursday, local officials said.

The migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, include “a lot of women and children”, said Theodosis Kalantzakis, the mayor of Ierapetra.

The Kiribati-flagged freighter Baris was towed to the seaside town of Ierapetra after suffering engine failure on Tuesday.

A team of doctors in protective gear as a precaution against the Ebola virus boarded the vessel and are inspecting the passengers before they are allowed to disembark.

None of them have required hospitalisation so far, doctors on the scene said, but conditions on board were seriously cramped.

“There are no cases of serious illness,” said local health worker Giorgos Hiristakis.

However, a pregnant woman on board the ship was airlifted to the island capital of Iraklio by a Greek navy helicopter on Tuesday.

Before the operation began, Greek special forces disarmed and arrested seven men on board the freighter as suspected migrant-smugglers, a local police source said.

The town’s authorities are planning to temporarily house the migrants in a 1,000-seat basketball stadium, the mayor of Ierapetra said.

However, the small town of 20,000 lacks the means to accommodate them beyond a week, he added.

The 77-metre (253-foot) Baris issued a distress call on Tuesday as it sailed some 30 nautical miles (56kms) southeast of Crete.

Greece is one of the main points of entry into the European Union for people fleeing war-torn and poor countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2014