ATHENS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Three people died after a boat carrying an unknown number of refugees and migrants sank off the island of Lesvos in the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Coast Guard said on Tuesday.
A search and rescue operation is underway. Sixteen people have been saved. Survivors said there were 41 people aboard the boat departing from the Turkish coast, according to a press release.
None were wearing life jackets amid adverse weather conditions with winds of force 6 on the Beaufort scale blowing in the area, the coast guard added.
In a similar incident on Sunday off Leros island, four children and a young woman lost their lives.
Greece has been at the forefront of a refugee and migrant influx since 2015, and hundreds have perished in the Aegean Sea in the past eight years. ■