Athens (dpa) – At least seven people, two of them children, drowned Wednesday in the Aegean while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece and Europe, Greek state radio reported, quoting the national coastguard.
It was not immediately clear how many people were in the boat when it overturned near the island of Kos.
Refugees and migrants wait to disembark the ferry ‘Eletherios Venizelos’ at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, on January 23. Wednesday, at least seven people, two of them children, drowned in the Aegean while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece and Europe, Greek state radio reported.
Separately – further north in the Aegean around Lesbos and Chios – rescuers plucked 164 people from the sea, the coastguard said.
Greek islands last year became the main gateway to Europe for people fleeing war zones in the Middle East, but also for so-called economic migrants fleeing poverty in Asia and Africa.
Around 850,000 arrived in 2015. The surge has not abated despite the danger of a winter crossing, even though many use rickety vessels. The UN refugee agency UNHCR has registered more than 44,000 since the start of this year.
With the latest deaths, the toll from drowning among migrants rose above 200 in the eastern Mediterranean since the start of the year.
