Greek officials say 34 migrants drown when a wooden boat carrying refugees sank in the Aegean Sea about 3 miles from the shore of the Greek Island of Farmakonissi, according the NBC News. Authorities said about half of the drowned victims were infants and children.
Another inflatable boat, also carrying several children, burst about 90 miles from the same shore. Locals rescued the migrants, with children as young as 2-months-old pulled ashore.
Coastguards rescued 68 people from the waters and found another 30 from the first boat had made it to shore on Farmakonissi, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Coastguards were still searching for four children missing since Saturday in a seperate refugee boat collapse, off the Greek island of Samos, not far from Turkey, according to the Ahmedabad Mirror.
Staggering numbers of (mostly Syrian) refugees have traversed the rough seas this year to make the shortened trip from Turkey to Greece. The estimated tens of thousands have crossed in overcrowded inflatable dinghies. Thousands have died so far crossing the dangerous waters in overfull boats.
Greece is just a stop gap on the way to Northern European countries, especially the favorited Germany, who has prepared to take in over a million refugees this year.
