At least one man drowned after a migrant boat sank off the Greek island of Folegandros, dozens remain missing. Twelve migrants were rescued and taken to hospital, the coast guard said.
A massive search and rescue operation was underway off the Greek island of Folegandros on Wednesday (December 21), after a migrant boat carrying up to 50 people sank. At least one person died, local authorities said.
The Greek coast guard said that they rescued 12 people, including children. They are currently in hospital on the nearby island of Santorini. Those rescued hailed from Iraq (7), Syria (3) and Egypt (2), according to news agency AFP.
Citing testimonies from survivors, the coast guard said the boat was carrying between 32 and 50 people. It reportedly started taking in water after suffering an engine failure near Folegandros, a small island in the Aegean Sea.
The search and rescue operation began late Tuesday, after the coast guard received information that a vessel carrying migrants had run into trouble.
Four coastguard vessels, two helicopters, a military transport plane, five nearby ships and three private vessels were all taking part in the search and rescue operation, the coast guard said.
However, most survivors said there were originally 32 people on the boat.
