Off the wire
• Sri Lanka releases 55 Indian fishermen from custody  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- Jan. 15  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Jan. 15  • Traditional medics increasingly well-qualified in Tibet  • Three more wanted for Shenzhen landslide  • Cote d'Ivoire maintains vigilance measures against Ebola  • Walmart opens three new stores in China  • Singapore stocks close 0.52 pct lower  • Foreign exchange rates in Singapore  • New materials found to make MRI scans clearer, safer, faster  
You are here: 　 Home

Three more children drown in Aegean after refugee boat capsizes

Xinhua, January 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Three more children drowned in the Aegean Sea on Friday after a boat carrying refugees and migrants from Turkey capsized off the coast of Agathonissi island, according to the Greek Coast Guard.

Twenty passengers were rescued by the boat of a nongovernmental organization operating in the sea, before Greek Coast Guard vessels reached the site.

The nationalities of the victims and survivors have still not been clarified.

According to Greek Coast Guard statistics, about half of the 200 people who perished in the Aegean in 2015 were children and infants. More than 800,000 people reached Greece's shores last year and the Greek Coast Guard rescued approximately 95,000 refugees and migrants.

In recent weeks, the coast guard has received support from Frontex, the European Union's border control agency, as well as humanitarian groups who have deployed rescued boats in the Aegean while offering help to refugees on the Greek islands. Endi