Death toll in capsized migrant boat near Oinousses rises to seven

The death toll from a dinghy carrying 19 people which capsized on Friday morning north of a cluster of islands in the northeastern Aegean has risen to seven, the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency reported.

Authorities reportedly said all of the passengers were Turkish citizens.

A coast guard diver earlier pulled out five bodies which were identified as three children and two women. On Friday morning, authorities discovered the bodies of a baby and a 4-year-old child.

Their remains will be transferred to the port of Chios.

Twelve people were rescued – five men, three women, three children under 6 years of age and a 12-year-old – from the sea north of the islands of Oinousses, according to information cited by the ANA-MPA.

Authorities initially thought they were looking for four missing migrants but it later emerged the rescuees had told authorities that five more people were in the plastic boat. 

Vessels of the Greek Navy and Frontex were in the area along with a helicopter.