The coast guard retrieved the bodies of seven illegal immigrants that washed ashore on the eastern Aegean island of Samos on Saturday after they were reported missing when their boat sank in a storm earlier in the day.

Authorities said that 11 illegal immigrants were rescued but four were still missing from the wooden boat that had set out from Turkey.

The Merchant Marine Ministry did not give details concerning the nationalities or ages of those concerned but said that the dead included a child.

Authorities launched a search-and-rescue operation with three patrol ships and a Super Puma helicopter after being alerted by one of the survivors. It was the fourth time this year a boat carrying illegal immigrants had sunk off Samos. In the previous incidents, 14 bodies had been retrieved while another 30 passengers were listed as missing.