Two children among migrants killed after boat sinks off Greece

A woman and two young children drowned, and seven more people were missing, after an inflatable dinghy carrying dozens of migrants from Turkey hit rocks near the Greek island of Lesbos, Greek authorities said on Sunday, as fears rose of more deaths amid worsening weather conditions.

Another 53 people made it ashore after the dinghy sank shortly before dawn on Sunday in choppy waters, according to an official at the Greek shipping ministry. “It was very windy, about 6 or 7 Beaufort,” the official said, describing near gale-force conditions.

The dead children were aged two and seven, she said, adding that the ethnic origin of the migrants was not known. A Greek military helicopter and coast guard vessels searched for another seven people believed to have boarded the dinghy on the neighboring Turkish coast but did not reach Lesbos. The European Union’s border-monitoring agency Frontex contributed to the search with a helicopter and patrol vessel, the ministry said.

Sunday's episode added to the grim tally of deaths in the Aegean, which remains a popular crossing point for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war or other hardships. More than half a million people have arrived in Greece this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency. There are no precise figures for drownings though the Greek coast guard issues almost daily reports of migrants who have been found dead or who are unaccounted for, often including very young children.

Of the about 650,000 people who have crossed into Europe this year, via Greece or other countries such as Italy, more than 3,000 have died or are missing, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration. Greek authorities have repeatedly appealed for support in handling the influx of migrants, and prime minister Alexis Tsipras was expected to underscore the pressure Greece faces as the key gateway to Europe at a summit in Brussels on Sunday of leaders of European countries and some Balkan states most affected by the migrant crisis.

On arriving at the summit on Sunday afternoon, Mr Tsipras emphasised the need for a “European solution” to a “huge humanitarian crisis”. “I believe we have a big responsibility when refugees every day lose their lives in the Aegean Sea,” he said.

New York Times service