A drowned two-year-old boy became the first known
migrant casualty of the year on Saturday after the crowded dinghy he was
travelling in slammed into rocks off Greece's Agathonisi island, the coastguard
said.
The other 39 passengers, including a woman who
had fallen overboard, were rescued after local fishermen raised the alarm.
Ten of the survivors were taken to hospital to be
treated for hypothermia. The rubber vessel had set off from Turkey in the
early morning in windy weather. The charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS),
which helps save migrants and refugees at sea, deployed its fast-rescue
Responder boat to help bring the stranded passengers to safety in a joint
operation with the Hellenic coastguard.
The toddler's body was pulled out of the water by
fishermen, according to the coastguard. The migrants, including the child's mother, were
taken to the port of Pythagorio on Samos, the nearest island, which is 50
kilometres (30 miles) away. There was no immediate information about their
nationalities.
"Nothing can prepare you for the horrific
reality of what is going on. Today we came face to face with one of the
youngest victims of this ongoing refugee crisis. It is a tragic reminder of the
thousands of people who have died trying to reach safety in miserable
conditions," said MOAS founder and US entrepreneur Christopher Catrambone
in a statement.
Despite the recent cold and choppy waters, large
numbers of migrants and refugees are still setting sail from Turkey to make the
hazardous journey across the Aegean in the hope of reaching Greece. Overall, nearly one million migrants or
asylum-seekers landed in Europe in 2015 in search of a better life after
setting off in boats from either Turkey or North Africa. Most were refugees
fleeing war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
More than 3,600 people have died attempting to
make the crossing. Three-year-old Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose limp body
was photographed washed up on a Turkish beach in September, became a
heartbreaking symbol of the refugee crisis.
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