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Roundup: Three migrants drown, 90 rescued as vessel sinks off Rhodes island

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

A man, a woman and a toddler drowned on Monday and 90 other undocumented migrants and refugees were rescued as the vessel carrying them sank off the coast of Rhodes island in southeastern Aegean Sea, according to the latest official countdown by Greece's Coast Guard.

Among survivors, who were mainly Syrians and Ethiopians, were 22 women and six children.

Initial estimates had put the number of people on board the wooden sailing boat to 200 passengers.

Following a marathon search and rescue operation, the local Coast Guard officials said that there were no other people missing.

Survivors who spoke to local media insisted that there were 100-150 people on board. They said that the boat had sailed from Turkey and that they had paid human traffickers 2,500 euros each.

In testimonies to Greek authorities survivors said that the captain of the sailing boat fled with a jet ski as the vessel was getting close to the rocks at a popular beach, the Regional Governor of Southern Aegean Sea Yorgos Chatzimarkos told media.

The vessel crashed on the rocks and sank within minutes and people struggled to reach safety with the aid of locals who rushed to their rescue.

Manolis Stavris, the captain of a tug boat, who was among the first to reach the immigrants told Greek media how he witnessed the three victims perishing in the sea and described how he saved a baby.

Local authorities were put on alert to provide shelter to the migrants and refugees, as Greece's government reiterated calls to the EU partners to step up efforts to address the ongoing "humanitarian crisis" at its roots and offer more assistance to people who reach European shores desperate for a better life.

The incident at Rhodes occurred a day after hundreds of migrants and refugees lost their lives in a similar tragedy taking place off the coast of Italy's Lampedusa island and Italian Coast Guard rushed to the rescue of hundreds of undocumented immigrants on board two other vessels.

Greece and Italy are two key transit points for people entering Europe illegally to seek a better life for years. Thousands of people have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea in the process.

Due to the ongoing conflicts in the wider region, the number of undocumented migrants and refugees reaching Greece has tripled in the first three months of 2015 compared to that of last year, exceeding 10,000 people so far, Greece's Deputy Minister of Migration Tassia Christodoulopoulou said last week.

Greece estimated that should inflows continue at this rate the debt-laden country will receive 100,000 undocumented migrants and refugees this year.

Greece and other southern European countries are seeking more support from the EU to address the issue. Endit