Greece: Children among dead in migrant boat sinking

At least five children are among the 22 people confirmed dead in the sinking of a sailboat that had been carrying migrants, Greece’s coast guard said Thursday, while a search and rescue operation continued for a further 34 people still reported missing.
Only 12 people, all men, have been found alive since the sailboat sank in the treacherous waters between the islands of Evia and Andros, east of the Greek capital, in the early hours of Tuesday. The initial nine survivors had been found on rocks on an uninhabited islet, and had told authorities they had been on a sailboat carrying a total of about 68 people that had set sail from Izmir on the Turkish coast.
They said the boat capsized and sank in rough seas. The initial rescue operation was conducted in gale-force winds seas in the Kafireas Strait between the two islands, an area notorious for rough seas.
The coast guard said Thursday that a total of 22 bodies had been retrieved from the sea, including five children — three boys and two girls — and six women.
The sinking was the latest in a series of recent deadly shipwrecks of boats carrying migrants through Greek seas.