ATHENS (AP) — Greece was coordinating a rescue operation Thursday morning near an island in eastern Greece to search for four migrants who went missing when the boat they were on attempted to reach Greek shores from the neighboring Turkey, according to the authorities.
Authorities received a distress call about a vessel in trouble near the southern island of Samos and found 18 people on board when they reached the area. Passengers said four other people on board fell overboard.
The search and rescue operation involved two patrol boats from the Greek Coast Guard and a vessel from the European border surveillance agency Frontex, as well as two helicopters.
The 18 survivors were transferred to Samos. At first, his nationality was unknown.