KALAMATA - At least 79 migrants died after their boat sank off the Peloponnese, Greece's coastguard said, as concern mounted that the death toll could rise much higher.
Some 100 people were rescued after the packed fishing boat capsized in international waters in the Ionian Sea in an operation complicated by strong winds, the coastguard said.
But there were fears for scores of women and children, as most of the survivors were men, state TV ERT reported -- which is unusual for a migrant group of this size.
A survivor told hospital doctors in the port city of Kalamata, where the rescued were taken, that he had seen a hundred children in the boat's hold, ERT said.
"The fishing boat was 25-30 metres long. Its deck was full of people, and we assume the interior was just as full," coastguard spokesman Nikolaos Alexiou told ERT.
"We do not know what was in the hold... but we know that several smugglers lock people up to maintain control," government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris told ERT.
Siakantaris said there were reports, that could not be confirmed at present, of up to 750 people on board.
The International Organization for Migration said in a tweet: "We fear more lives were lost. Initial reports suggest up to 400 people were onboard."