Deaths after migrant boat sinks off Greece coast
Eleven bodies have been recovered so far and another 90 people stranded on the islet were rescued overnight, according to Greek coastguards.
More than 116,000 asylum-seekers crossed the Mediterranean to reach EU countries this year as of December 19, according to UNHCR.
At least eleven migrants have died after their boat was wrecked on an islet north of the Greek island of Antikythera, as scores of others, including dozens of children, were rescued.
The boat carrying migrants ran aground on the rocky islet some 235 kilometres south of Athens on Thursday evening, the Greek coastguard said.
“We are extremely saddened at reports that at least seven people lost their lives in a shipwreck north of Antikythera,” the Greek office of the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, tweeted.
Afterward the tweet, divers helped recover four more bodies.
Search and rescue operation continues while those rescued include 27 children, 11 women and 52 men.
The coast guard released a video of the rescue operation. It showed people being put into life rafts and transferred to a patrol boat. The survivors were being brought to the port of Piraeus, near Athens.
READ MORE: Turkiye saves scores of refugees pushed back into sea by Greece
Another boat tragedy in Greek sea waters.
— UNHCR Greece (@UNHCRGreece) December 24, 2021
We are extremely saddened at reports that at least 7 people lost their lives in a shipwreck north of Antikythera. 1/2https://t.co/KwAKYXPOkL
'Perilous voyages in search of safety'
Thursday's shipwreck came the day after a dinghy carrying migrants capsized off the island of Folegandros, killing at least three people.
Thirteen people were rescued, while dozens remain missing, Greek authorities said.
Survivors gave conflicting accounts with some saying there were 32 people aboard, while others put the number at around 50, a coastguard official told AFP News Agency.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said the Folegandros accident was the worst in the Aegean Sea this year.
"This shipwreck is a painful reminder that people continue to embark on perilous voyages in search of safety," said Adriano Silvestri, the UNHCR's assistant representative in Greece.
The UNHCR estimates that more than 2,500 people have died or gone missing at sea in their attempt to reach Europe from January through November this year.
Nearly one million people, mainly Syrian refugees, arrived in the EU in 2015 after crossing to Greek islands close to Turkiye.
READ MORE: Dozens reported missing after boat sinks off Greek coast
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