12 migrants, including a baby, die in two Aegean Sea incidents

At least 12 migrants died on Monday, 19 October, while trying to cross the Aegean Sea in two separate incidents, Greek authorities said.

According to a Greek coast guard official, a speedboat carrying migrants collided with the port side of a police patrol vessel off the island of Lesbos. Six people died in that incident, including a baby and four women, and eight others were rescued.

In the second incident, a small boat capsized off the island of Samos, killing six more people, five men and a woman. The coast guard said 14 people from the boat were rescued, one of them believed to be an Iranian smuggler who organised the crossing.

The authorities have not yet said which countries the dead came from. The Aegean is a much-used route for migrants trying to reach Europe from Turkey, and over the years many Afghan migrants have also attempted the journey this way.

At least 1,209 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In September, one person died and 25 went missing when a migrant boat sank off the island of Gavdos, near Crete.