Girl dies, 13 refugees missing as boat capsizes in Aegean
Xinhua, September 19, 2015 Adjust font size:
A girl about five years old died and at least 13 undocumented refugees and migrants were missing on Saturday after a boat transferring dozens of people from Turkey to Greece overturned off Lesvos island, Greek Coast Guard said.
Greek Coast Guard officers who rushed to the site after being alerted by a Greek armed forces patrol recovered the girl's dead body and rescued 12 people.
The survivors told Greek authorities that there were some 26 people on board when the boat capsized with winds measuring five on the Beaufort wind-force scale blowing in the area.
The new tragedy occurred just a week after 34 people, among them 15 infants and children, died under similar circumstances off the island of Farmakonissi in the Aegean Sea.
About 3,000 people have perished across the Mediterranean this year trying to reach Europe, according to the International Organization of Migration (IOM). Endit