Athens, Jun. 11, (dpa/GNA) – The Greek coastguard rescued around 100 migrants in the sea off the island of Kythera and took them to Neapoli on the Peloponnesian coast, ERT state radio reported on Sunday.
The rescue operation was conducted on Saturday evening after the boat carrying the migrants ran into difficulty. All those aboard were in good health, the report said. It did not say where the boat had set out from.
During the summer months, many sailing boats and yachts are out on the Aegean and Ionian seas, making boats operated by human traffickers carrying migrants hard to distinguish.
As the boats are usually old and often overloaded, accidents are frequent. According to UN figures, at least 326 people died in the region last year. The Greek coastguard believes the actual figure to be considerably higher.
GNA