Several people die in migrant boat accident near Greek island Lesbos
Two children were among the dead, the Greek radio station ERTnews reported. Police said 23 people were rescued, but survivors said 31 people were on board the boat.
A rescue operation is ongoing, the radio report said.
According to initial findings by the coastguard, the people come from Afghanistan and Syria.
Smugglers repeatedly attempt to transport migrants to Europe from the western coast of Turkey, Lebanon or Syria. For many, this journey ends tragically.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said at least 125 migrants died or went missing in the eastern Mediterranean in 2024, but the Greek coastguard suspect the number of unreported cases is much higher.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
2 hours ago
A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half in Gaza, UN says
UNITED NATIONS -- A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas, the U.N. humanitarian office said Tuesday on the annual day honoring the thousands of people who step into crises to help others. U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the record number of killings must be a wake-up call to protect civilians caught in conflict and all those trying to help them. 'Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy,' Fletcher said in a statement on World Humanitarian Day. 'As the humanitarian community, we demand — again — that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.' The Aid Worker Security Database, which has compiled reports since 1997, said the number of killings rose from 293 in 2023 to 383 in 2024, including over 180 in Gaza. Most of the aid workers killed were national staff serving their communities who were attacked while on the job or in their homes, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA. So far this year, the figures show no sign of a reversal of the upward trend, OCHA said. There were 599 major attacks affecting aid workers last year, a sharp increase from the 420 in 2023, the database's figures show. The attacks in 2024 also wounded 308 aid workers and saw 125 kidnapped and 45 detained. There have been 245 major attacks in the past seven plus months, and 265 aid workers have been killed, according to the database. One of the deadliest and most horrifying attacks this year took place in the southern Gaza city of Rafah when Israeli troops opened fire before dawn on March 23, killing 15 medics and emergency responders in clearly marked vehicles. Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later. 'Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,' the U.N.'s Fletcher said. 'Violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end.' According to the database, violence against aid workers increased in 21 countries in 2024 compared with the previous year, with government forces and affiliates the most common perpetrators. The highest number of major attacks last year were in the Palestinian territories with 194, followed by Sudan with 64, South Sudan with 47, Nigeria with 31 and Congo with 27, the database reported. As for killings, Sudan, where civil war is still raging, was second to Gaza and the West Bank with 60 aid workers losing their lives in 2024. That was more than double the 25 aid worker deaths in 2023. Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah militants fought a war last year, saw 20 aid workers killed compared with none in 2023. Ethiopia and Syria each had 14 killings, about double the number in 2023, and Ukraine had 13 aid workers killed in 2024, up from 6 in 2023, according to the database.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half in Gaza, UN says
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas, the U.N. humanitarian office said Tuesday on the annual day honoring the thousands of people who step into crises to help others. U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the record number of killings must be a wake-up call to protect civilians caught in conflict and all those trying to help them. 'Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy,' Fletcher said in a statement on World Humanitarian Day. 'As the humanitarian community, we demand — again — that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.' The Aid Worker Security Database, which has compiled reports since 1997, said the number of killings rose from 293 in 2023 to 383 in 2024, including over 180 in Gaza. Most of the aid workers killed were national staff serving their communities who were attacked while on the job or in their homes, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA. So far this year, the figures show no sign of a reversal of the upward trend, OCHA said. There were 599 major attacks affecting aid workers last year, a sharp increase from the 420 in 2023, the database's figures show. The attacks in 2024 also wounded 308 aid workers and saw 125 kidnapped and 45 detained. There have been 245 major attacks in the past seven plus months, and 265 aid workers have been killed, according to the database. One of the deadliest and most horrifying attacks this year took place in the southern Gaza city of Rafah when Israeli troops opened fire before dawn on March 23, killing 15 medics and emergency responders in clearly marked vehicles. Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later. 'Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,' the U.N.'s Fletcher said. 'Violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end.' According to the database, violence against aid workers increased in 21 countries in 2024 compared with the previous year, with government forces and affiliates the most common perpetrators. The highest number of major attacks last year were in the Palestinian territories with 194, followed by Sudan with 64, South Sudan with 47, Nigeria with 31 and Congo with 27, the database reported. As for killings, Sudan, where civil war is still raging, was second to Gaza and the West Bank with 60 aid workers losing their lives in 2024. That was more than double the 25 aid worker deaths in 2023. Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah militants fought a war last year, saw 20 aid workers killed compared with none in 2023. Ethiopia and Syria each had 14 killings, about double the number in 2023, and Ukraine had 13 aid workers killed in 2024, up from 6 in 2023, according to the database.
Boston Globe
9 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Russian attacks kill 14 in Ukraine
A partly blurred photo released by Ukraine's emergency services showed a firefighter holding what looked like the body of a child. Other photos showed rescue workers searching through the rubble for survivors. Advertisement Three people were killed in a separate attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine, and nearly 20 people injured, officials said. In Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the main theater of the battlefield, Russian shelling killed four people, according to regional prosecutors. There was no immediate public comment from Russian authorities. Before Monday's strikes, Russia appeared to have scaled back its air attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, in what Ukrainian officials and analysts see as an attempt by the Kremlin to curry favor with Trump during peace talks. Advertisement Trump's typically lenient tone toward Putin soured after Russia increased drone attacks on Ukrainian cities during talks last month between Moscow and Washington, prompting Trump to complain about seeing that 'a rocket hit a nursing home, or a rocket hit an apartment building and people are laying dead in the street.' Since the beginning of August, Russia has significantly reduced the number of drones and missiles it sends each night against Ukrainian cities. Kyiv, the capital, which was hit especially hard this summer, has been largely spared from attacks recently. Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, two cities near the front lines, have remained frequent targets despite the recent easing in Russian attacks. Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, wrote on social media that the strike on the residential building was 'deliberate.' 'Five enemy 'Shaheds' approached it from different directions and targeted people who were peacefully sleeping at five in the morning,' Terekhov said, referring to armed drones. His statement could not be independently verified. It was unknown whether Zelensky — who in his last Oval Office meeting sought to stir Trump's compassion by showing him graphic images of Ukrainian prisoners of war — would refer to the attacks in his meeting with Trump. But several officials from his government quickly seized on them to press their case. 'Despite all of the diplomacy and peace efforts, Russia continues to kill civilians,' Andriy Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign affairs minister, wrote on social media. Ukraine, for its part, has escalated attacks on Russian oil refineries, attempting to keep pressure on the Kremlin to make concessions during negotiations by targeting its key revenue source. Last week, Ukraine also claimed to have struck a major oil pumping station in Western Russia. Advertisement A United Nations report covering the period from December to May found that nearly 1,000 civilians in Ukraine, including Russian-occupied areas, had been killed during that time, a 37 percent increase compared with the same period the previous year. 'The war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, is becoming increasingly deadly for civilians,' said Danielle Bell, Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. This article originally appeared in
