Greece’s coast guard says 5 migrants have drowned off Samos

A volunteer helps a mother with a child to disembark from an overcrowded plastic boat in the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, Sunday, March 20, 2016. In another incident two Syrian refugees have been found dead on that boat on the first day of the implementation of an agreement between the EU and Turkey on handling the new arrivals. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Greece’s coast guard said at least five migrants have drowned in the eastern Aegean Sea after a small plastic boat capsized.

The five victims, four women and a child, were found around dawn today northeast of the Greek island of Samos, close to the Turkish coast. A coast guard spokeswoman says there were also five survivors: two women, two men and a child. The spokeswoman spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

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She says the coast guard has no information about the ages and nationalities of the migrants or the children’s gender. The survivors, who are in a state of shock, told authorities a total of 11 people were aboard the 3.5-meter boat. Migrant flows into Greece have slowed considerably recently following an EU-Turkey deal to deport migrants from Greek islands.