Lesbos island: A two-month-old baby was found dead in the wreckage of a migrant off Lesbos early Friday, a coroner confirmed to AFP.
According to coroner Theodorus Nousias, the infant boy was taken to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him brought dead. According to sources at the Lesbos migrant reception center, the wreck occurred when plastic canoes carrying the migrants—mostly African—hit rocks on the shore. in the Fara region.
The refugees were able to reach the coast and alert the local authorities. On Saturday, the Greek Coast Guard service confirmed that it had received a call in the area on Friday afternoon. Along with the dying child, it discovered 30 migrants were still alive. Two migrants have received minor injuries.
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On Saturday night, the humanitarian organization MSF Sea tweeted that it had received an alert about people in need.
Compared to the Coast Guard, its team "provided medical and psychological support to 34 survivors," it said. Tragically, a dead two-month-old infant was discovered.
The NGO complained that both the Coast Guard and the police prevented a team from reaching the migrants for two hours. "We will never know whether these two hours would have allowed us to save the child's life," the statement said.
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MSF Sea reported that it believed 16 other passengers from the boat, including the baby's mother, had reached Lesbos and are now missing.
Compared to the same period last year, the Greek Coast Guard service reports that it saved nearly 1,500 lives in the first eight months of 2023.
Many fleeing Africa and the Middle East attempt to enter Greece, Italy and Spain, seeking a better life in the European Union.
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According to the International Organization for Migration, the Mediterranean Sea has claimed the lives of nearly 2,000 migrants this year.