FOUR CHILDREN MISSING AFTER REFUGEE BOAT SINKS

Athena, 29 Dzulqa’dah 1436/13 September 2015 (MINA) – Four children have gone missing after a dinghy carrying them and other refugees sank off the island of Samos on Saturday, a spokeswoman for the Greek coastguard authorities said.

The coastguard picked up 25 survivors early on Saturday morning north east of the Aegean island. They told authorities that four minors were missing. Separate reports suggested the children were aged between three and 14. The authorities could not confirm the ages, World Bulletin quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“The coastguard has assets searching the area,” a coastguard official said.

In another incident, a vessel of the European Union’s Frontex border agency plucked 32 people out of the sea off the Greek island of Lesbos. A man believed to be about 20 years old was missing.

A record 432,761 refugees and migrants made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, and around 2,748 drowned, the International Organization for Migration said on Friday.

Of the total, an estimated 309,000 people had arrived by sea in Greece, the IMO said. About half of those crossing the Mediterranean are Syrians fleeing civil war, according United Nations refugee agency. (T/P006/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)