Twelve refugees died when their boat sank close to a Greek island close to Turkey, according to a report by the Greek coastguard on Thursday, as people continue to risk their lives to cross over to Europe despite the harsh winter conditions.
"A man who managed to swim to the shore told Greek authorities the boat carried 40 to 45 people," a coastguard official said.
The incident happened late on Wednesday, to the north of Samos island located in the eastern Aegean Sea, close to the Turkish coast.
Nine people have been rescued according to the latest reports, while Frontex and coastguard ships continue to search for other survivors.
"We are not sure if the nine rescued were among the 45 or if they were on a different boat," the official said.
More than 600,000 refugees fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn countries arrived in Greece after crossing from Turkey in 2015, risking the short but dangerous sea crossing, often on inflatable rafts. Hundreds have died drowning.
A day before, six refugees including one child died when their ship capsized off the island of Kos close to Turkey.
EU countries have criticized Athens' management of the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War Two. More than a million refugees and asylum seekers reached Europe last year, mainly making the journey through Greece.
On Wednesday, the EU Commission issued a warning to Greece saying it could face more border restrictions with other states in the free-travel Schengen zone from May if it does not address a number of "serious deficiencies" in its handling of the area's external border.
