Greek rescuers continue search for missing girl after migrant boat sank off Lesbos

Greece’s coastguard said on Friday that a search and rescue operation off the island of Lesbos has still not found any trace of a child reported missing after a dinghy carrying migrants sank, killing seven people.

The search continued for a second day after survivors told authorities there had been a total of 31 people in the small rubber boat.

A coastguard patrol boat came across the vessel, measuring about five metres in length, in the early hours of Thursday morning when it was already taking on water and most of its passengers had fallen into the sea, the coastguard said.

Greek authorities said that all those on board were from Afghanistan.

One of the survivors, an unnamed 20-year-old man, was identified by other passengers as having piloted the boat and was arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling.

Authorities in Turkey also reported the sinking of a boat carrying migrants in the same area on Thursday.

The Çanakkale governor’s office said the Turkish coastguard received an emergency call for help from a vessel on Thursday morning.

Nine bodies were recovered while one person was reported missing, and 25 people were rescued, the governor’s office said.

Greece is one of the main entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with many making the short but often treacherous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies or other small boats.

Many are unseaworthy, or set out in bad weather, and fatal accidents have been common.