Beirut: Greece has come under fire for its handling of a migrant boat that capsized earlier this month, and now it is being charged with refusing to accept a request to send a plane to watch the vessel.

In the incident last week, eighty-two people were officially pronounced dead, but the UN claimed that up to 500 people may have drowned.

The migrant boat had been spotted by one of Frontex's planes "hardly moving in the hours before it capsized," according to a report from the BBC on Saturday. This contradicts Greece's assertion that the boat was travelling on a "safe and steady course."

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Frontex reportedly offered to send a plane to watch the vessel, but Greek authorities did not respond.

It's thought that the crowded boat left from Libya. In the early hours of June 13, it was first seen heading towards Greece.

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According to the Greek authorities, the crew of the boat requested to be left alone after informing the coast guards that they were travelling to Italy. The authorities dispute that they failed to act quickly enough to avert the tragedy, but they have not responded to Frontex's assertion that it offered aerial support.

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The BBC asserted in its report that the migrants' boat had barely moved for nearly seven hours before capitulating about 80 kilometres from Pylos, a coastal town in Greece, based on an analysis of the passage of other vessels on that day.

Although it is reported that more than 100 people were saved, survivors claim that there were more than 700 people on board, including about 100 children.
More than 350 Pakistanis were on board, according to Pakistan's interior minister. According to media reports, there were also passengers from Egypt and Syria.