Two children die as migrant boat sinks off Greek island

cde.news desk 7 March 2019, 11:22 · 1 min read

File Photo - Refugees reportedly being from Syria and coming across the Turkish coastline in a rubber dinghy cheer as they advance to disembark illegally on the coast of Skala Sykamias on Lesbos island, North Aegean Sea, Greece, 13 August 2015. According to the Greek coast guard, the number of migrants who have entered Lesbos island by sea in the last three days had reached already about 2,000 people. Refugees on the so-called Balkan route arrive on European soil from Turkey, often on Greek islands such as Chios, Samos and Lesbos. EPA/KATIA CHRISTODOULOU

Two children were among three people who died early Thursday when a migrant boat, carrying at least 12 people, sank near the Greek island of Samos.

The two young boys died shortly after being rescued, with another body recovered afterwards.

The island of Samos, in the eastern Aegean Sea near the Turkish coast, has one of the country’s most congested camps, with some 4,000 people crammed into a facility originally built to house fewer than 700.

Last week Greece’s Minister for Migration Policy Dimitris Vitsas said that the number of refugees and migrants on the Aegean islands has increased significantly.

Via ANSA

Filed under Greece Immigration

Topics Greece Immigration samos Turkey

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