16 Dec 2012

18 migrants dead after sinking of boat

6:47 am on 16 December 2012

Eighteen migrants died and nine others are missing after a makeshift boat sank off the coast of Greece in the Aegean Sea. One person was rescued.

Police on the island of Lesbos said on Saturday that the survivor had told them the boat was carrying 28 people including children.

They set sail from the western coast of Turkey on Thursday, but ran into bad weather that sank their boat.

AAP reports migrants often perish trying to make the crossing in makeshift boats, particularly in winter.