Greece migrant boats sinkings leave 18 dead

ATHENS: At least 18 people died, nearly all of them women, and about 30 more were still missing after two migrant boats sank in gale force winds off Greece, the coastguard said on Thursday, with survivors dramatically winched to safety.

A vessel believed to be carrying around 40 people went down east of the island of Lesbos, coastguard spokesman Nikos Kokkalas told state TV ERT. The bodies of 16 women and a 15-year-old boy were recovered from the area, close to Turkey, he said.

Divers recovered an adult male body during the afternoon, the coastguard added. A few hours earlier, the coastguard had been alerted to a sailing boat in distress off Kythira island´s Diakofti port, south of the Peloponnese peninsula. Around 95 people had been on board. Kythira mayor Stratos Harhalakis said the coastal spot was “the worst possible place on the island” for a ship to sink.