A child died on Monday during the sinking of a makeshift boat loaded with fifty migrants off the Greek island of Lesvos (Greece), a spokeswoman for the port police said.
According to the Greek coast guard, the canoe which overturned around 8:30 am (6:30 am GMT) off the island of the Aegean Sea. "46 people are safe and sound" but a child was recovered "unconscious" and could not be revived while a second child was hospitalized, said the official. No details were given on the nationality or age of the child.
Almost 1,300 asylum seekers in 24 hours in Greece
The boat, coming from the neighboring Turkish coasts, "was overturned by the people on board after entering Greek waters, a habit of smugglers to start a rescue operation," said a coast guard statement. The coast guard immediately went on the scene and recovered "46 people unharmed", according to this press release. "Two children were hospitalized, one unconscious, efforts to revive him have had no results," he continues, adding that the second child is "out of danger".
About 1,300 asylum seekers arrived between Sunday morning and Monday morning on the five Greek Aegean islands near Turkey, a clear increase since Ankara's decision to open its doors to migrants, said Manos Logothetis, secretary of the Greek asylum service. "The increase in the number of arrivals is significant, we went from 200-300 on average last week to 500-800 in recent days," said Manos Logothetis. Following the escalation of tensions in northwestern Syria, Turkey has decided to let migration flow towards Europe's external borders, the Greco-Turkish and Greco-Bulgarian borders, to put pressure on the West.
World
Migrant influx in Greece: UN calls against "excessive" force against arrivals
World
Greece: State of "maximum" alert to the influx of thousands of migrants
- Immigration
- shipwreck
- Turkey
- World
- Video
- migrants
- Greece