17 dead as migrant boat sinks off Greek island

Athens, Oct 6 (IANS) The demise toll has risen to 17 whilst a boat wearing refugees and migrants sank off the coasts of Lesvos island in the Aegean Sea in Greece on Thursday.

Most of the sufferers were young women of African beginning, Hellenic Coast Guard spokesperson Nikos Kokkalas advised Greek national broadcaster ERT.

A rescue operation turned into underway as a but unidentified wide variety of human beings have been missing, Xinhua information employer stated.

Approximately forty humans were on board when the incident came about, in line with the survivors, he introduced.

Meanwhile, eighty humans were rescued off the island of Kythira in southern Greece after another boat crashed onto rocks and sank on Wednesday night time, according to a Coast Guard press launch. Survivors said about ninety five humans were at the boat. No information changed into given on their nationalities.

Both rescue operations had been hampered by way of sturdy winds achieving Category eight at the Beaufort wind pressure scale, authorities said.

“We specific sorrow over the tragic incidents in our seas which resulted in deaths and positioned many lives at hazard,” government spokesperson Giannis Oikonomou advised a televised everyday press briefing on Thursday.

17 dead as migrant boat sinks off Greek island

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More than 1 million humans entered Greece when you consider that 2015, particularly through the Aegean, seeking safe haven in Europe from warzones and severe poverty. Hundreds perished within the sea, according to the Greek authorities.

In March 2016, the European Union (EU) and Turkiye reached an agreement aimed to stem the inflow, which produced results, but nevertheless lots of human beings every year land on Greek islands, stated the authorities.