Four migrants drown in Ionian
Coast Guard vessels on Sunday were scouring the sea around the Ionian island of Cephalonia after recovering the bodies of four drowned immigrants and rescuing another 11 who had fallen from a smuggling boat on Saturday.
Following contradictory accounts from the rescued migrants — who all claimed to be from Pakistan — about the presence of other passengers on the inflatable dingy, Coast Guard officials continued their search of the area late Sunday.
Authorities had responded to a signal by the Italian Coast Guard, which had spotted the dingy on Saturday afternoon. Ten of the migrants were transfered to Cephalonia, some on a Coast Guard vessel and others on a Turkish cargo ship that had been in the area.
An eleventh, who had been injured, was transfered by helicopter to the island. The first two bodies were found on Saturday afternoon and the other two late on Saturday night.
