Over dozen migrants killed as boats sink off Greece and Turkey coasts

athens: A boat carrying migrants from Turkey to a nearby Greek island sank Thursday morning, leaving at least seven people dead, including three children, Greece’s coast guard said. Turkish authorities reported what appeared to be a separate sinking in the same area, with nine people dead.

The two accidents reportedly occurred several hours apart in the narrow stretch of the Aegean Sea between the Greek island of Lesbos and the Turkish coast, with both sides unaware of the other nation’s rescue efforts.

Greece’s coast guard said a dinghy carrying migrants began taking on water and 23 people were rescued and the bodies of three women, two boys, one girl and one man were recovered.

Weather in the area was reported to have been good. The nationalities of those on board were not immediately known.

Separately in Turkey, the Canakkale governor’s office said the Turkish coast guard received an emergency call for help from a migrant boat and deployed three boats

and a helicopter.