A MAJOR rescue operation continued today off the southern coast of Cyprus after a migrant boat believed to be carrying at least 20 Syrians sank in international waters.

No additional survivors or bodies have been found since the initial operation on Monday, officials said, with seven bodies recovered and two people rescued 28 miles south of Cyprus.

The island republic’s Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre confirmed an ongoing operation involving military helicopters, rescue vessels and drones, assisted by a helicopter from a British base on Cyprus.

“As time passes and no other people are found, hope naturally and dramatically diminishes,” Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas told a press briefing late on Monday.

The rescue effort is taking place amid rising irregular border crossings in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the European Union border protection agency Frontex, despite a broader decline across the bloc.

Cypriot officials said they continue to monitor increased maritime movement from Lebanon and Syria amid ongoing regional instability.

Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis said the first survivor had been spotted during a routine patrol. After that,“the response was immediate, which is why we managed to save the second person very quickly.”