6 dead in refugee boat sinking off Kos island, Aegean Sea
Six people including a toddler were found dead on Wednesday
off the shores of Kos island after a boat transferring refugees and migrants
from Turkey to Greece sank, the Greek Coast Guard said.
Greek authorities were alerted by a survivor who made it to
the island's shore in the Aegean Sea, reports Xinhua.
He said that there were about ten people on board the small
boat that capsized as winds of 4-5 on the Beaufort scale were blowing in the
region.
Greek Coast Guard officers have so far recovered the bodies
of three men, two women and the toddler, while a rescue operation is underway
to locate more survivors.
It's the second tragedy in the Aegean Sea in less than a
week after 45 bodies were found on Friday.
More than 45,000 refugees and migrants have crossed over
from Turkey to the Greek islands since the start of 2016, according to the
International Migration Organisation, IMO.
More than 60 refugees and migrants have perished in the
Greek waters so far.
The statistics confirm the desperation by many to flee war
and risk their lives to reach Europe regardless of newly built fences, border
controls and rough seas.
In 2015 more than 800,000 refugees and migrants landed on
the Greek islands in old boats provided by smugglers on the other side of the
Aegean. More than 3,500 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea the same year.
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