Greece’s coast guard said Friday that a search and rescue operation off an eastern island near the Turkish coast had still not found any trace of a child reported missing after a rubber dinghy carrying migrants sank, leaving seven people dead and 23 rescued.
The search continued for a second day, after survivors told authorities there had been a total of 31 people in the small dinghy.
A coast guard patrol boat came across the vessel, measuring about 5 meters (15 feet) in length, in the early hours of Thursday morning when it was already taking on water and most of its passengers had fallen into the sea, the coast guard said.
The coast guard said Thursday that all those on board were from Afghanistan. One of the survivors, identified only as a 20-year-old man, was identified by other passengers as having piloted the boat and was arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling.
Turkish authorities had also reported the sinking of a boat carrying migrants in the same area on Thursday. The Canakkale governor’s office said the Turkish coast guard received an emergency call for help from a migrant boat on Thursday morning. Nine bodies were recovered while one person was reported missing, and 25 people were rescued, the governor’s office said.
Greece is one of the main entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with many making the short but often treacherous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies or other small boats. Many are unseaworthy, or set out in bad weather, and fatal accidents have been common.
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