Lebanese Family Feared Dead in Boat off Greece
Local Editor
A Lebanese family of 12 was reportedly on the migrant boat that sank off while traveling from Turkey's shores to the Greek island of Lesbos, the Voice of Lebanon radio station said Thursday.
It said that the Safwan family, which hails from Ouzai, south of Beirut, had travelled to Turkey to take the migrant boat to Greece in the hopes of seeking asylum in Germany.
VDL added that the husband who managed to swim to shore informed relatives in Lebanon that his wife's body had been recovered. Six members of his family, identified as Mayez, Maryam, Leen, Maya and Malik, remain missing.
This comes after the Greek Ministry of Shipping said Wednesday that a woman, a young girl and a baby had died after the boat, carrying migrants and refugees to the Greek island of Lesbos, sank.
The three victims' bodies were found by divers under the capsized vessel, the ministry said.
The Greek coastguard had launched a search and rescue operation, aided by a helicopter of European border agency Frontex, after a Turkish patrol raised the alarm.
The ministry said 21 other migrants had been on board the boat, and that they had received reports of the three missing passengers.
The survivors were taken back to Turkey.
The International Organization for Migration says more than 590,000 refugees and migrants have reached Europe's shores since January, while more than 3,000 have died or gone missing.
More than 450,000 of the total have arrived in Greece.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
