2023-10-16 07:37:05
ATHENS (AP) — A search and rescue operation was activated Monday following a boat carrying migrants sank overnight near the small eastern Greek island of Symi. At least three people died, according to the coast guard.
Eight people were rescued, with two taken to a hospital on the nearby island of Rhodes and the rest to the main port of Symi, according to the Coast Guard.
Authorities said they recovered the bodies of two men and a woman from the sea. Survivors said they believed two other people who were on the boat had managed to reach shore on their own.
Two coast guard boats, four private boats and an air force helicopter were searching the area for the two missing people. At first the nationality of the people on board the boat was unknown.
Greece is on one of the most popular smuggling routes for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and trying to reach the European Union.
Many use small boats to leave Turkey for the Greek islands off the Turkish coast, while others use larger sailboats, yachts or fishing boats to make longer voyages from Turkey or North Africa to Italy, avoiding Greece.
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