Four refugees dead, 15 rescued off Thassos island

The dead bodies of four refugees were retrieved and 15 people were rescued Wednesday from a boat located off the coast of Thassos island in the northern Aegean Sea, the Greek Coast Guard announced.

The circumstances under which the victims -- all men -- lost their lives, as well as their nationalities, itinerary and destination are still unclear, but survivors told Greek authorities that a total of 19 refugees and migrants were on board the dinghy.

Although the numbers of people crossing the Aegean has fallen dramatically this year compared to 2015, thousands of refugees and migrants are still taking the perilous journey.

According to latest data released by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex earlier on Wednesday, some 3,100 people arrived in October on the Greek islands, in line with the previous month. The three main nationalities on this route in October were Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans.

The number is just a fraction of the figures from a year ago when more than one million people landed on Greece's shores this way, Frontex noted.

Since the start of 2016, about 170,000 arrivals to Greece have been recorded. Most of them took place between January and March, before the start of implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement aimed to stem the influx.

In recent months, after Greek authorities started sending back to Turkey people non eligible for asylum in Europe, smugglers shifted the focus on alternative routes.

According to Frontex, a record number of migrants (nearly 27,500) reached Italy in October this year. Enditem