Leros News

Human traffickers threw a group of illegal immigrants into the sea close to the southern Aegean island of Leros. A 15 year old girl drowned and two others went missing in this incident, said authorities.

The girl was part of a group of Kurdish migrants who were located in the waters off the island of Farmakonisi, located near Leros and a short distance from Turkey.

A one-year-old infant and a man are among the missing.

Local boats rescued nine people, including seven men and two women. They were taken to a health center on Leros for observation, authorities said.

Continuing throughout the day, three coast guard patrol boats and a helicopter were participating in the search operation.

Authorities detained 145 illegal immigrants, most of whom were from Iraq, off the coast of Athens earlier this week. They were stranded at sea as the fishing boat they were traveling in developed engine problems.