Two missing as migrant boat sinks at sea

Greek authorities say two people are missing after a boat carrying people fleeing their homelands sank in the eastern Aegean Sea.

The coast guard says eight survivors were picked up by a patrol boat off the island of Lesvos on Tuesday. Their nationalities were not immediately known.

In another 13 operations, it says over 300 people were rescued in the eastern Aegean in the last 24 hours.

More than 260,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Greece so far this year, most reaching the country's eastern islands on flimsy rafts or boats from the nearby Turkish coast. After being screened, they take ferries to the mainland and then travel north overland to the more prosperous European Union countries.

[AP]