Rescuers continue to search the rough waters for more survivors and the coast guard said it remains unclear how many people were on the boat when it went under.
Advertisement
Operation Sophia, coordinated by Italy, was set up to arrest smugglers and seize their vessels in the Mediterranean as Europe tries to stem the flow of refugees making the perilous sea crossing.
At least seven children died when boats carrying migrants sank off Greece on Wednesday, as rescue workers battled to save more youngsters on the seashore in the latest desperate scenes in Europe’s refugee crisis. Swedish immigration officials estimate up to 190,000 asylum-seekers will arrive this year. The accident occurred in stormy weather Wednesday.
Lesbos, which lies less than 10 kilometres from the Turkish coast in the north Aegean Sea, has been a primary gateway for thousands of migrants entering the European Union’s outermost border.
Ms Myers, who is also working with Starfish, a group set up by a Lesbos restaurant owner to help refugees, said there had been a massive queue of rescued people – “everyone soaked, freezing and traumatised”.
Speaking to the Guardian by telephone from a rescue centre, Myers said volunteers had been warned of a “hideous medical need” when the high winds caused a “constant stream of boats sinking in the sea” on Wednesday afternoon. More than a third of that number has come in October alone. The small nation of 2 million has repeatedly said it can not not cope with the mass influx.
The island is in the front line of the refugee crisis.
At least 30 others are still believed to be missing in the capsizing. The Greek coast guard said it rescued 242 refugees or economic migrants off the…
More than 300,000 have arrived this year, with the number of daily arrivals peaking at 7,500.
Paramedics and volunteers worked to resuscitate infants and small children, tearing off their soaked clothes, as survivors were carried or staggered onto land and were wrapped in emergency foil blankets.
Advertisement
Myers said about a third of the people rescued on Wednesday were children younger than five, mainly from Syria, with at least 25 suffering serious shock, hypothermia and other injuries.
