Twelve migrants rescued from a shipwreck in waters 10 nautical miles off the coast of Karlovassi on the Aegean island of Samos were brought on land late on Friday, with one of them later transported to Athens in critical condition.

By Friday night, two bodies had been recovered and taken to the Samos Hospital in private cars, as funeral homes would not handle their transport because they had not been paid for transporting 22 bodies recovered from another shipwreck on May 5. Reports mention a total of 38 passengers aboard the vessel that sank.

Several boats, Navy vessels, and a helicopter have taken part in the rescue effort after being notified by a sailboat in the area on Friday morning. A Coast Guard vessel has remained in the area of the wreck as efforts continue for other possible survivors. According to some reports, there were 38 aboard the found vessel.

Strong southerly winds are hampering rescue efforts, however, with authorities noting that those behind the trafficking operation had sent the migrants to “certain death” by making them attempt the crossing to Greece in such conditions.

Shipping and Aegean Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis on Friday expressed his deep sorrow over the incident.

“The constant rescue incidents and the losses of life at sea, however, confirm the fears expressed by the shipping and Aegean ministry, both within Greece and abroad, concerning the rising dimensions of the phenomenon, which make a revision of European migration policy urgent,” he said.