More than 1,000 refugees rescued in a single day, Greek coast guard says

Greece's coast guard says it has rescued more than 1,000 migrants and refugees from the sea off the coasts of eastern Aegean islands in a single day, as the flood of people fleeing war and poverty to seek shelter in the European Union continues unabated.

The coast guard said on Tuesday it had picked up 1,192 people in 31 separate search and rescue operations from Monday morning to Tuesday morning off the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Agathonissi, Farmakonissi, Kos and Megisti. The numbers do not include hundreds more who reach the islands themselves from the nearby Turkish coast each day, usually in overloaded inflatable dinghies.

The number picked up from the sea in a single day is usually in the hundreds.

[AP]