By Magda Panoutsopoulou
ATHENS (AA) – Four irregular migrants, including two women and two children, drowned and 26 others were rescued after their motorboat capsized in the southeast Aegean Sea near the island of Kos, the Greek coast guard said in a statement on Wednesday.
A coast guard boat on routine patrol was informed of an unidentified motorboat approaching the coast of Kos Island late Tuesday, the statement said, adding that the patrol boat was immediately mobilized to investigate.
The motorboat was carrying irregular migrants, and when the driver saw the Greek coast guard patrol, he dangerously maneuvered it, causing it to turn turtle and people to fall into the sea, it said.
The rescue teams pulled them all from the sea, but four of them were unconscious and later pronounced dead.
According to the statement, the boat carried 30 irregular migrants, eight of whom were minors and four of whom were women, as well as one driver.
It added that 27 rescued have been transferred to the Kos reception and identification center.