NEWS

Four migrants drown at sea

Coast guard officials in the northeastern port of Alexandroupoli on Saturday recovered the bodies of four people, all believed to be illegal immigrants. The first two bodies, those of a young man and woman, were found washed up on a beach near the port. The other two, both men, were found on a beach in nearby Rhodope. The four drownings came just a few weeks after 10 Afghan migrants drowned off the coast of Lesvos, in the eastern Aegean, when their dinghy foundered on a rocky outcrop. Lesvos, along with Samos, Chios and Leros, receive almost daily boatloads of would-be migrants due to their proximity to the Turkish coast. The Citizens’ Protection Ministry has pledged to restructure the coast guard this month to better curb a relentless influx of illegal immigrants seeking to enter the country through its land and sea borders, estimated at some 150,000 every year.

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