Baby, toddler die in migrant boat capsize

ATHENS: A baby and a toddler died on Friday when a migrant boat sank in the Aegean Sea, the Greek coastguard said, as rescuers searched for another four people missing.

The accident occurred near the tiny Greek island of Oinousses, located between the island of Chios and the Turkish coast. Four children were rescued along with five men and three women, the coastguard said. Their nationalities were not immediately known.

Another two children are believed to be missing, the coastguard said, in addition to a man and a woman. Hundreds of migrants and refugees have died in recent years while attempting to cross the Aegean Sea in small, overloaded boats. Over 50 have died so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Greece is hosting some 70,000 mostly Syrian refugees and migrants who have fled their countries since 2015, and crossed over from neighbouring Turkey. Under an agreement reached with the European Union in 2016, Turkey has made greater efforts to limit departures towards the five Greek islands closest to its shores.

But the number of arrivals has been steadily climbing in recent months. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis this week said some 3,000 people had arrived from Turkey in recent days, placing additional pressure on camp facilities on Greek islands that are already vastly overcrowded.