Three people died and at least 25 people are still missing after a plastic raft carrying irregular migrants sank off the Greek island of Samos in the eastern Aegean Sea on Monday, public broadcaster ERT reported.
A spokeswoman for the Greek Coast Guard confirmed to EFE that several bodies were foundalthough he could not confirm how many. At present, it is known that five people were rescued alive from the sea, although on the raft 33 people wentReuters also reports that the rescue operation by four coastguard ships and a helicopter is continuing on the rocky shores of Agios Isidoros, in the northwest of the island.
Greece was a preferred gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia between 2015 and 2016, when nearly a million people landed on its islands, mostly by rubber boats. However, the flow of people had been declining before reappearing last year.
In fact, more than 70 people died this year on the migratory route that crosses the Eastern Mediterranean and leads mainly to Greece. This is what the latest data collected by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reveals.
