Five refugees drown as boat sinks off Greek island

Five people, including one child, drowned Saturday as a boat carrying migrants and refugees from Turkey sank off a Greek island, Greek authorities announced.

A small boat capsized off the northeast coast of the Greek island of Samos, close to the Turkish shores.

So far the bodies of four women and one child have been found, while five people have been rescued.

Authorities search the area with a helicopter in order to locate other survivors.

The precise number of people on board remains unclear.

The incident occurred a day after a second batch of 124 refugees and migrants were returned to Turkey from Greek islands, under the EU-Turkey deal to cope with the refugee crisis.

The flow of refugees and migrants into Greece from the Turkish coasts continues in reduced numbers. According to UNHCR, 483 people arrived at Greece this week, comparing to 2,618 arrivals last week.

More than 1 million people crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece from Turkey since the start of 2015 and continued their journey to central and northern European countries. Enditem