x

Society

Woman Dies as Migrant Boat Sinks off Greek Island

February 5, 2023

ATHENS, Greece — A woman died when a boat carrying at least 41 migrants crashed on a rocky coast on the Greek island of Leros Sunday, authorities said.

Greece’s coast guard said they were alerted by a person who saw a body floating at sea. Three vessels and a helicopter, joined by a detachment that went overland, reached the point and retrieved the body, an unconscious boy and 39 other people, six of whom had made it to the rocky coast.

An inflatable boat was found half submerged.

Eight people, six of them minors, were hospitalized early in the afternoon, while the rest were taken to a reception camp to be sheltered.

Gale force winds are blowing in the area and it is raining, authorities said.

A coast guard spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the child found unconscious at sea was revived at the hospital and has a weak pulse. Hospital officials did not respond to inquiries about the health of the hospitalized migrants.

Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Ioannis Plakiotakis congratulated the rescuers but accused “criminal networks of traffickers that operate from Turkey, tolerated by the Turkish authorities” of abandoning the migrants.

Leros lies close to the Turkish coast. Boats loaded with migrants — many inflatables but also yachts and speedboats — regularly leave Turkey bound for Greece, with some even attempting to reach Italy, irrespective of weather conditions.

RELATED

ATHENS - Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, in an announcement on Friday, expressed "deep concern and its unequivocal condemnation of the new escalation of tension in the Middle East with Israel's show of force against Iran.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

Indians Vote in the First Phase of the World’s Largest Election as Modi Seeks a Third Term

NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians began voting Friday in a six-week election that's a referendum on Narendra Modi, the populist prime minister who has championed an assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics and is seeking a rare third term as the country's leader.

NEW YORK  — A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.

NEW YORK — Emergency crews rushed away a person on a stretcher after fire was extinguished outside the Manhattan courthouse where jury selection was taking place Friday in Donald Trump's hush money criminal case.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Casper Ruud defeated Jordan Thompson in straight sets to earn his season-leading 26th win and secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday.

ATHENS - "Turkiye must respect the European acquis, which fully includes the participation at all levels of the Republic of Cyprus," Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis stressed on Friday in an interview with "Kanali Ena", commenting on the conclusions of the European Council, which link the progress of EuroTurkish relations with developments in the Cyprus issue.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.