AT LEAST 78 people have died and hundreds more are presumed dead following a shipwreck off the coast of Greece in the early hours of this morning.

Greek authorities said today that the coastguard, navy and merchant vessels had rescued 104 people from a capsized fishing boat 45 miles south-west of the Peloponnese peninsula.

The passengers, the authorities believe, set sail from Libya’s north-east coast several days ago, in the hope of reaching safety in Italy.