At least 15 people died when their ship sank off the Greek island of Lesvos in the central Aegean early Thursday, the Greek Coast Guard said, in what was the second maritime disaster involving migrants since Wednesday.
The Coast Guard, citing five people rescued so far, said there were about 40 people on the sinking boat. He added that 15 bodies had been found, meaning that about 20 people were missing. The boat sank east of the island of Lesvos, off the Turkish coast.
A Greek Coast Guard ship and an Air Force helicopter rushed to carry out search and rescue operations, as strong winds blew in the area.
Along the wider coast of Lesvos, searches were made for migrants who may have reached the shores. Three people were found stranded in a remote area.
In an earlier incident, Greek authorities rescued 30 migrants whose boat sank after it collided with a rocky outcrop in rough waters off the island of Kythira in southern Greece on Wednesday.
The Greek Coast Guard said authorities launched a search operation to rescue about 100 migrants whose boat sank after hitting rocky terrain in rough waters off the island of Kythira on Wednesday.
“Their ship hit rocky terrain and sank,” a Coast Guard spokesman said. “A coast guard ship arrived in the area, joined by a Greek Navy helicopter,” he added.
The Coast Guard had no further information about possible victims or the nationality of the migrants. Kythira Island is located off the southeastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula.
Greece was at the forefront of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015 and 2016, when a million refugees fleeing war and poverty from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan arrived mostly via Turkey.
Since then, the number of immigrants has declined sharply, but attempts to enter the country by sea through its islands continue.
