Next boat accident in Greece, 13 killed

Until the case came after smugglers began increasingly favouring a dangerous road from Turkey to Italy, which wards off Greece's heavily patrolled eastern Aegean islands, which for years faced the country's migration crisis.

The Thursday 11 people were confirmed dead after a sailboat hit a rocky island near Antikythera. The coast guard said Friday that 90 survivors -- 52 men, 11 women and 27 children -- were saved after spending hours on the island.

In another incident Friday, Greek police arrested three persons on smuggling charges and arrested 92 immigrants after a yacht crashed in the southern region of Peloponnese. And a search operation continued for the third day in the central Aegean, where a boat of immigrants sank near the island of Foegandros, killing at least three people.

Thirteen others were rescued and survivors reported that at least 17 persons were missing. Authorities said passengers were originally from Iraq.

The coastal guard said that 62 were rescued after a sailboat was overturned late Friday, some eight miles [8 km] from the island of Paros. The survivors told the coast guard that about 80 people had been on board.

Turkey-based smugglers have increasingly filled yachts with migrants and refugees and sent them to Italy, writes Euronea.

Greece is the popular entry point in the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. But arrivals dropped significantly in the past two years after Greece expanded a wall on the border with Turkey and began catching incoming ships carrying migrants and refugees a tactic criticised by human rights groups.

More than 116,000 asylum seekers passed the Mediterranean to reach EU countries this year since December 19th, according to W NHCR.