16 October 2016
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"LESBOS, GREECE – A wooden boat carrying dozens of migrants from Turkey to Europe sank Thursday near the island of Lesbos after colliding with a Greek coast guard vessel, leaving at least seven people dead, including four children, rescuers said.
The boat sank within minutes of the crash with a 30-meter (100-foot) patrol vessel on Thursday morning, in circumstances that were being investigated.
The first bodies to be retrieved were those of a woman, two young girls and a baby, the coast guard said.
Three other victims, “a woman, a man and a minor,” were found later, the coast guard said as Greek rescuers backed by a Portuguese ship and an EU border agency Frontex helicopter combed the waters for the missing.
The 31 survivors who were brought to safety had reported a total of eight people missing.
An AFP photographer who witnessed the crash from the shores of Lesbos said the boat went down just two or three minutes after the collision, which took place some 2 km (1.2 miles) from land."
See: Seven migrants killed when their boat, reportedly fleeing, collides with Greek coast guard vessel (Japan Times, link)
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