Athens, Sept. 24, (dpa/GNA) – Greek authorities said on Tuesday that more than two dozen migrants who were feared to have died in a boat accident near the island of Samos had been found alive.
The 26 unaccounted for people had managed to reach the shore while rescue workers searched for them at sea, the Kathimerini newspaper reported, citing the coastguard.
Not all on board survived, however. The coastguard said that the bodies of three women and a girl were recovered.
The search near Samos is also continuing as there were varying statements from the migrants regarding the actual number of passengers on the small and overcrowded rubber dingy.
One of the survivors was arrested as a suspected trafficker after other passengers identified him. The people have now been brought to the reception centre on the island.