At least 11 migrants died in Gracia after a dhow sank

Divers Greek coast guard They were looking for Friday in a helmet sunken sailboats To locate passengers who may be trapped inside, after The ship collided with stones off the coast of southern Greece and sank. At least 11 people died.

ninety people –52 men, 11 women and 27 childrenThey were rescued overnight from an island 235 kilometers (145 miles) south of Athenanear the remote island of Antikythera, the Coast Guard said.

based on smugglers Turkey Sailboats full of migrants and refugees are increasingly used and sent across Mediterranean sea To Italy to avoid the guarded Greek islands.

“We are deeply saddened by the reports that at least seven people died in the sinking of a ship north of Antikythera.The Greek office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Twitter before divers recovered four more bodies. “People need safer alternatives to those dangerous crossings.”

The Coast Guard released a video of the rescue operation. It showed people being put into lifeboats and taken to a patrol boat. The survivors were taken to the port of Piraeus near Athens.

In another incident on Friday, Greek police arrested three people for smuggling and Detained 92 people after the yacht was stranded in the southern Peloponnese.

In addition, in the middle Aegean sea The search operation continued for the third day in a row in the area where a boat with migrants sank near the island of Folegandros. Thirteen people were rescued, and survivors said at least 17 others are missing. Authorities said the passengers had come from Iraq.

Greece is a popular entry point into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. But arrivals have fallen dramatically in the past two years after Greece expanded a wall on the border with Turkey and began intercepting ships laden with migrants and refugees on the high seas, a tactic criticized by human rights groups.

more than 116,000 Asylum seekers have crossed the Mediterranean to reach the European Union this year by December 9, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The agency said 55% had traveled illegally to Italy, 35% to Spain, 7% to Greece, and the rest to Malta and Cyprus.

(with AP info)

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