Five dead, dozens missing in Greece as migrant boat sinks

ATHENS — Five migrants died early Saturday when a migrant boat sank off Crete, Greece's coastguard said, leaving 40 people reportedly missing while 39 survivors were rescued, and all men. 

The boat sank 12 nautical miles southwest of the island, according to ERTNEWS, which reported the 40 missing.

A huge rescue operation involving vessels and aircraft was under way in the sea near the island of Gavdos, south of Crete, after the boat capsized shortly after midnight, the coastguard said.

The first dead was found Saturday morning. 

According to the Athens News Agency, a migrant is being treated in the intensive care unit of the Chania hospital in the ICU in a serious condition while three people are also hospitalised with cardiac problems and hypothermia.

Saturday afternoon, the coastguard told AFP that the number of migrants found dead had risen to five.

In two separate incidents off Gavdos also on Saturday, 88 migrants were located and rescued by a tanker flying the flag of Great Britain, and 47 people by a cargo ship flying the Maltese flag, some 28 nautical miles south and 40 nautical miles south of the island, respectively. 

Greece has seen a 25-per cent increase this year in the number of migrants arriving, with a 30-per cent increase to Rhodes and the southeast Aegean, according to the migration ministry.

Several similar accidents have occurred in recent weeks. In late November, eight migrants, six of them minors, died north of the island of Samos, on a route frequently used by people smugglers.