The Greek coast guard said Sunday that 28 people, half of them children, were killed when a boat carrying migrants and refugees capsized off the Greek island of Farmakonissi.
28 drowned as migrant/refugee boat capsizes off Greece. Worst death toll in G waters since current influx began
— alex thomson (@alextomo) September 13, 2015
30 of the passengers managed to swim to shore and the coast guard rescued 68 other people.
Four children aged between 3 and 14 missing after a migrant boat sank off the Greek island Samos this morning. http://t.co/7N3xCRRBWU
— Laura Schneider (@alauraschneider) September 12, 2015
A spokesperson for the Hellenic Coast Guard told the Associated Press that he did not know the nationalities of the victims but four of them were infants. Five girls and five boys were among the dead.
Four children were reported missing Saturday after another boat sank near the island of Samos, also in the Aegean Sea. Greek rescuers managed to save 25 people from that boat.
The International Organization for Migration said on Friday that almost 2,750 refugees and migrants have have drowned this year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.