Seven children among 10 migrants dead as four boats sink off Greece coast
Patrol vessels, fishing boats and locals on jet skis joined in efforts to rescue survivors.
At least seven children and three adults died as four boats carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece on Wednesday, reported Agence France-Presse. The Greek coastguard rescued more than 200 migrants who were traversing a dangerous sea crossing from Turkey. Patrol vessels, fishing boats and even locals on jet skis joined in search efforts into the night for more survivors in the water. Many of the survivors were suffering from hypothermia. The Greek port police said the number of people on the boats is still unclear.
Thirty nine people have died in Greece's waters in October, according to the Greek port police data. Over 560,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece by sea out of over 700,000 who have reached Europe via the Mediterranean, in what has become the biggest humanitarian crisis on the continent in decades. More than 3,200 people, most of them children, have died while crossing the seas, according to the International Office for Migration.
European Union leaders last Sunday had agreed to cooperate further in handling the crisis, and to provide United Nations-aided housing for 100,000 refugees, half of them in Greece, reported Reuters.