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Boat with refugees in Greek waters (archive image): According to estimates, more than 2500 people died in the Mediterranean last year alone
Photo: AP / dpa
Shortly before Christmas, more than two dozen refugees were killed in boat accidents in the Aegean.
Almost two weeks later, the authorities in Greece have now discovered several bodies in the Aegean, said a spokesman for the Greek coast guard, according to a report by the dpa news agency on state radio on Sunday.
On Saturday, the body of an approximately three-year-old child was discovered on a beach on the island of Naxos.
According to the authorities, the child was wearing a pacifier attached to a chain, a printed bib, brown and claret clothes and a blue striped sock on his right foot.
The body will be taken to the port of Piraeus for an autopsy, it said on Saturday evening.
Four more bodies had been found in the past few days.
The Greek police assume that the victims are refugees who have been missing since the boats capsized at the end of December.
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Greece: At least eleven dead in the sinking of a refugee boat in the Aegean Sea
Boats capsized: at least 27 people die in the Aegean before Christmas
After the accidents, 16 bodies were recovered from the holiday island of Paros. Eleven people had died north of Crete. Three refugees drowned near the island of Folegandros. Authorities believe the death toll could be much higher. Dozens of people are still missing, the Coast Guard spokesman said. The refugees, mostly from Syria, tried to get to Calabria directly from Turkey through the Aegean Sea.
It is estimated that around 11,000 people have reached Italy on this long and dangerous sea route in the past few months.
According to the aid organization, around 2500 people died during the crossing between January and November 2020.
On the route across the Mediterranean, south or north of Crete, machine damage or leaks often occur on the smugglers' boats, which are often outdated.
bor / dpa / AFP
