At least 78 people died when the fishing vessel flipped and capsized in international waters south-west of Greece early on Wednesday. A migrant charity says a person they were in contact with on the boat said it was in distress, but Greek authorities say it repeatedly refused offers of help. Passengers paid $4,500 for passage to Italy, the two Greek sources said. Aerial photos of the vessel taken by the Greek coastguard hours before the tragedy unfolded showed a vessel crammed with people on its exposed decks. When the boat reported engine failure and stalled, a coastguard vessel shadowing them came closer.

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Persons: Stelios Misinas, Nikos Alexiou, Adriana Tidona, Tidona, Karolina Tagaris, Michele Kambas, Alex Richardson Organizations: Hellenic Coast Guard, REUTERS, Greek coastguard, . Authorities, Greece's coastguard, EU, Amnesty International, coastguard, Thomson Locations: Greece, Kalamata, Stelios Misinas KALAMATA, LIBYA, Tobruk, Libya, Italy