Athens, Bodies floated amid splintered wreckage in the water off a Greek island today as the death toll from the sinking of two migrant boats rose to 21, with many still missing.
The boats went down hundreds of miles apart, in one case prompting a dramatic overnight rescue effort, as residents and firefighters pulled shipwrecked migrants to safety up steep cliffs.
With winds in the area reaching 70 kph (45 mph) overnight on Kythira island, survivors clinging to ropes were pulled to safety up steep cliffs as others were buffeted by waves as they waited their turn on tiny areas of rock at the bottom.
Kythira is some 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of Turkey and on a route often used by smugglers to bypass Greece and head directly to Italy.
Source: Oman News Agency
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