Migrant ship refuses help despite call for aid

A cargo ship believed to be carrying hundreds of migrants has turned towards Italy, brushing off Greek authorities responding to a distress call from one of its passengers.

A passenger on board the Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M called emergency services in Greece earlier yesterday when it was sailing off the coast of the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea.

Greek authorities scrambled a navy frigate and a helicopter to check the ship and the nature of the emergency.