Greek coast guard detains 52 in Aegean operations
Coast guard officers on Thursday intercepted a total of 52 undocumented immigrants in three different parts of the Aegean.
A sailing boat which had issued a distress signal while off the coast of Sounio on Wednesday was located close to Monemvasia in the Peloponnese on Thursday and the 22 would-be migrants aboard were detained.
Another 15 immigrants and their two suspected smugglers were stopped off the coast of Samos in the eastern Aegean.
In a separate rescue operation close to Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, two Super Puma rescue helicopters were dispatched to rescue a boat that was sinking several kilometers off the island’s southeastern coast.
The 15 Syrians aboard the vessel were all said to be safe.
There was no information about the ethnic origin of the other migrants.