No fewer than 15 migrants including eight children drowned when their boats capsised off the Greek Islands of Kalolimnos and Farmakonisi early on Friday, a coastguard official said.
The official added that a search and rescue operation was ongoing off Kalolimnos, a small island in the south eastern Aegean Sea close to Turkey’s coast, assisted by a helicopter and other vessels.
“Eight bodies have been recovered and 26 have been rescued and taken to the island.
“They were on a wooden sailboat. We do not yet have a clear picture of how many were on board,” said the official.
The official added that it was not clear why the vessel capsised.
He also said that seven migrants drowned when their wooden boat crashed on rocks shortly after midnight at Farmakonisi, a small island close to the Turkish coast.
“Six children and one woman drowned, while another 41 migrants on the vessel managed to swim to the shore,” the coastguard official said.
Fleeing war, thousands of mainly Syrian refugees have braved rough seas this year from Turkey to Greece’s islands, from which most continue to mainland Greece and northward into wealthier Western Europe.
Winter conditions make the journey even more dangerous. (Reuters/ NAN)
The official added that a search and rescue operation was ongoing off Kalolimnos, a small island in the south eastern Aegean Sea close to Turkey’s coast, assisted by a helicopter and other vessels.
“Eight bodies have been recovered and 26 have been rescued and taken to the island.
“They were on a wooden sailboat. We do not yet have a clear picture of how many were on board,” said the official.
The official added that it was not clear why the vessel capsised.
He also said that seven migrants drowned when their wooden boat crashed on rocks shortly after midnight at Farmakonisi, a small island close to the Turkish coast.
“Six children and one woman drowned, while another 41 migrants on the vessel managed to swim to the shore,” the coastguard official said.
Fleeing war, thousands of mainly Syrian refugees have braved rough seas this year from Turkey to Greece’s islands, from which most continue to mainland Greece and northward into wealthier Western Europe.
Winter conditions make the journey even more dangerous. (Reuters/ NAN)
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