Greek authorities say a small plastic boat carrying migrants from Turkey to Europe has sunk off an eastern Greek islet and at least 13 people, mostly children, have drowned.
The coastguard said another 15 people had been rescued, while a search was under way to locate one missing person. The dead were identified as seven children, four men and two women.
The accident occurred before dawn on Wednesday off the small Aegean Sea island of Farmakonisi. The cause of the sinking was not immediately clear.
A day earlier, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported that 11 migrants, including three children, attempting to reach the Greek island of Samos drowned after their boat capsized. Seven others were rescued.
The agency said Turkish coastguards spotted the refugees during a routine patrol.
The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migrants said more than a million people had entered Europe by irregular means as of Monday. Almost all came by sea and 3,692 drowned in the attempt.
At least 820,000 refugees and economic migrants have reached Greece’s eastern islands this year. Nearly all have continued north, hoping for a better life in wealthier European countries.