A woman and a boy drown, three missing after a migrant boat sinks off Ikaria, Greece, with 50 rescued amid challenging weather conditions.
ATHENS: A boat carrying over 50 migrants sank off the Greek coast, killing a woman and a boy.
Three other people remain missing following the accident off the island of Ikaria in the northern Aegean Sea.
A coastguard spokeswoman confirmed that 50 migrants have been rescued and are being cared for by the authorities.
“A rescue operation with a coastguard vessel is underway, and a team of rescuers and divers is expected later today,” she said.
Strong winds are hampering the rescue efforts, according to public broadcaster ERT.
Ikaria lies close to Turkey’s western coast, a frequent departure point for migrants trying to enter the European Union.
Many migrants also take the much longer and perilous route from Libya to Crete in southern Greece.
These crossings are often fatal, with 17 people found dead after a boat sank off Crete in early December.
Only two people survived that incident, while 15 others were reported missing.
According to the UN refugee agency, 107 people died or went missing off the Greek coast in 2025.
The International Organisation for Migration says about 33,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.
