16 dead after migrant boat sinks off Greek island

At least 16 women have died after a migrant boat sank off the Greek island of Lesbos in the central Aegean Sea early on Thursday, in the second maritime disaster involving migrants in less than a day, the country s coastguard said.

The coastguard said that about 40 people had been rescued from the sunken boat, which carried about 40 people. A coastguard official said there were 16 bodies recovered. Another nine women were rescued and about 15 people were missing.

The boat sank east of Lesbos, which is close to Turkey's coast.

The Greek migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, called for Turkey to take immediate action to prevent all irregular departures due to harsh weather conditions.

People are drowning in unseaworthy vessels, and there are already many lives lost in the Aegean Sea. He wrote that the EU must act.

The Greek authorities rescued 80 migrants whose boat sank after hitting a rocky area in stormy waters near the island of Kythira in southern Greece on Wednesday. 15 were still missing and the search and rescue operation was still ongoing, according to those who were rescued.

A Greek coastguard vessel and an air force helicopter were rushing to conduct a search and rescue operation near Lesbos on Thursday, with strong winds blowing in the area.

A search was being conducted along the wider coast of Lesbos for migrants who may have made it to the shores. Three were found trapped in a remote area.

Greece was at the frontline of a European migration crisis in 2015 and 2016 when a million refugees fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan arrived in the country, mostly via Turkey.

Since then, the number of migrant arrivals has fallen sharply. Greece has seen a surge in attempted entry through the country's islands and land border with Turkey, according to Greek authorities.