At least 16 die after migrant boat from Turkey sinks off Greece

ATHENS, Greece — A migrant boat sinking in the eastern Aegean between Greece and Turkey left at least 16 people dead, including two children, Greek authorities said Monday, while two people were rescued. Patrol boats and helicopters were searching for several more people believed missing.

Greece’s coast guard said the bodies of nine people — six women, two men and a child — had been recovered from Greek waters off the island of Lesbos, while Turkish authorities found the bodies of another six men and a child in Turkish waters.

One of the rescued women was pregnant. She told Greek authorities she had been among roughly 25 people who had set sail Sunday night from the Turkish coast heading to Lesbos. The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said one of the women was believed to be from Congo and the other from Cameroon.

Vessels and helicopters from Greek authorities and Europe’s border patrol agency were conducting a search-and-rescue operation, and private boats also were helping. The alert was raised Monday morning by a Greek navy vessel that spotted bodies in the water.

“The number of people crossing the Aegean to Greece has dropped drastically over the past year, but this tragic incident shows that the dangers and the risk of losing one’s life remain very real,” the UNHCR’s Greece representative, Philippe Leclerc, said in a statement.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed into Greece from Turkey, hoping to head to more prosperous European countries. But a European Union-Turkey deal reached last year — in which those arriving on Greek islands face deportation back to Turkey — has significantly reduced the number of people attempting to cross the Aegean.