Refugee boat sinks off Greek island, 4 dead

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - At least four dead bodies were found some 75 nautical miles (138.9 kilometers) south of Crete Island in the Mediterranean Friday, Greek Coast Guard said in a statement.

According to the statement, hundreds of asylum seekers were aboard a wooden boat, when it began to sink early hours of Friday.

At least 340 people were rescued and were safely transported to nearby ships after an SOS signal was sent from the boat in Egyptian waters.

Egyptian authorities had informed the Greek coast guards, who then dispatched two vessels to the scene along with a Super Puma helicopter from the Greek Air Forces.

According to the state’s Athens Macedonian News Agency, the rescued asylum seekers would not be sent to a Greek port.

The agency said 242 migrants were on their way to Italy along with the body of one asylum seeker; 75 people and two more bodies would be sent to Port-Said in Egypt, while 16 would be sent to Turkey and seven others to Malta.

According to the Refugee Crisis Management Coordination body in Athens, 152 people arrived on the Greek islands within the last 24 hours.

At least 880 refugees died trying to cross the Mediterranean last week, the UN Refugee Agency said Tuesday, adding that 2,510 lives had been lost so far in 2016 while trying to reach Europe.