Reuters
News from the NOS•
Greek authorities are looking for dozens of migrants who were on a boat that sank this morning between the islands of Evia and Andros.
The Coast Guard found nine people, all men, living on an uninhabited rocky islet between the two islands.
The sunken boat had left Smyrna in Turkey. The nine survivors, who were picked up by a Coast Guard patrol boat, told authorities that a total of 68 people were aboard the sailboat when she sank.
Authorities initially received a distress call from the boat. The whereabouts of the boat were not revealed. The sea in the area was particularly rough, with gale force winds. The Coast Guard is looking for the other people on board with a helicopter, a patrol boat and two nearby ships.
Another search and rescue operation has been underway since Monday for eight people reported missing after a rubber boat carrying migrants was overturned off the Aegean island of Samos. Four occupants of the boat were rescued yesterday.
Royal couple on a state visit
Last week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that the number of migrants who died in the past two years increased. This also applies to the route between Turkey and Greece.
Greece and Turkey have long blamed each other for the dangerous crossing of migrants between the two countries. Last month, at the UN meeting, Turkish President Erdogan accused Greece of “turning the Aegean Sea into a cemetery”.
King William Alexander and Queen Máxima are in Greece for a three-day state visit. In addition to the official parts of the state visit, such as a crowning ceremony and a state banquet, there is also a lot of attention for the refugee problem.
