Dozens of migrants rescued off the coast of Greece

Athens, Sept 20, (dpa/GNA) – The Greek coastguard, rescued 93 migrants in distress off the coast of Greece on Wednesday.

The migrants were brought aboard a sailing boat, a tanker and the coastguard vessel, and will be brought to the port city of Kalamata later today, the state broadcaster ERT reported, citing the coastguard.

The EU border agency Frontex located the boat 40 nautical miles, or just under 75 kilometres, off the Greek coast late Tuesday evening.

Smuggling gangs repeatedly try to move migrants from Turkey and states in North Africa and the Middle East to the EU states of Greece, Cyprus or Italy.

There are frequent accidents due to the boats suffering from engine damage, leaks and other problems.

On June 14, hundreds of people lost their lives, after a completely overcrowded fishing boat sank about 50 nautical miles, or 93 kilometres, west of Greece.

GNA