Toddlers and women among victims as migrant boat sinks near Greek island
Migrants chasing dreams of a better future met a tragic end when their boat sank off the coast of the Greek island of Kos, while 27 others were rescued from the disaster.
A woman is assisted off a migrant boat upon the boat's arrival to Lesbos, Greece. / Photo: AP Archive
Two infant boys were among four people who died in a migrant boat sinking near the Greek Aegean island of Kos, according to the Greek coastguard.
Two women also died in the boat sinking, which occurred in mild weather, a coastguard spokesman said on Tuesday.
27 people were rescued, including a man detained as a suspected smuggler, the spokesperson told AFP.
In a separate incident on Friday, 78 migrants from a wooden boat sailing some 23 nautical miles off the tiny island of Gavdos in Greece's south, were rescued.
The migrants are now being taken to the island of Crete.
It was not immediately clear what happened to the boat.
Greece was a favoured gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia in 2015-2016, when nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, mostly via inflatable dinghies.
Perilous crossings
Last month, a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank off the French coast in the English Channel, claiming the lives of six children and a pregnant woman among the 12 victims.
According to the local prosecutor's office, 10 of the deceased were female and two were male.
The French coast guard reported that over 50 individuals were rescued near Cape Gris-Nez, close to Boulogne-sur-Mer, with two of them in critical condition.
Officials stated that the boat was overloaded, with its bottom "ripped open," and noted that fewer than eight people on board were wearing life jackets.
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