ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say one more body has been recovered following a shipwreck earlier this month of an overloaded migrant smuggling boat in the western Aegean Sea, raising the confirmed death toll to 29. A further 27 people remain missing.
Twelve men from Egypt, Afghanistan and Iran survived the Nov. 1 sinking of the sailing boat, which survivors said had set sail from Izmir in Turkey with a total of 68 people on board and ran into trouble in very rough seas in a treacherous strait between two islands east of the Greek capital. The coast guard said early Wednesday that the latest body, that of a man, was found in the sea south of the island of Evia.
Two of the survivors who authorities said had been identified as having piloted and crewed the sailing boat, were later arrested as suspected migrant smugglers.
The incident was the latest in a series of deadly shipwrecks involving migrants in Greek seas in recent months that have left dozens dead or missing.
Tens of thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa try to make their way into the European Union each year via perilous sea journeys, with most attempting to reach Greece or Italy.
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