Greek authorities have retrieved 13 migrant bodies and brought 18 survivors ashore after a boat was found off the island of Crete.
The vessel was spotted about 28km from the port of Kaloi Limenes by a Morocco-flagged container ship. The coast guard took those on board to shore, with four survivors taken to hospital.
One of the hospitalised survivors later died, while a toddler was among those receiving medical treatment. The remaining survivors were due to be taken to a migrant facility on Crete.
The cause of the deaths was not immediately clear. Greek authorities said the boat may have been at sea for several days and had struggled to reach land in strong winds.
“We found them shivering from the cold,” a local coast guard official said on condition of anonymity.
Greece has long been a gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The country was at the centre of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015 and 2016, when nearly one million people arrived on its islands, mainly from Turkey.
Arrivals have since fallen as Athens has increased sea and border patrols, although journeys from Libya have risen in recent years. Most of those arriving from Libya have been fleeing conflicts in Sudan and Bangladesh.
The coast guard also rescued 187 migrants in three separate incidents off Crete on Monday.
