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Boat Sinks Off Greece, Killing 27 Migrants and Refugees Including 11 Kids

Twenty seven migrants and refugees drowned on Monday after their boat sank while trying to reach a Greek island, Turkey's coastguard said.
Image: TURKEY-GREECE-EUROPE-MIGRANTS-ACCIDENT
Turkish coast guards and rescuers carry the body of a drowned migrant off a rescue boat, on February 8, 2016 at Altinoluk district, in Balikesir. At least 35 migrants drowned in two accidents in the Aegean Sea on February 8, as they tried to cross from Turkey to Greece, Turkish media said. AFP - Getty Images

ISTANBUL — Twenty-seven migrants and refugees drowned Monday after their boat sank while trying to reach a Greek island, Turkey's coast guard said.

Eleven of the dead were children, the coastguard told NBC News, after the incident between the Turkish coast of Altinoluk and the Greek island of Lesbos.

Image: TURKEY-GREECE-EUROPE-MIGRANTS-ACCIDENT
Ambulance personnel ferry migrants rescued at sea by a helicopter to a waiting ambulance, in the Altinoluk district in Balikesir on Feb. 8, 2016.AFP - Getty Images

Officials received a callout from local fishermen at around 6 a.m. local time (11 p.m. ET Sunday). They were able to rescue four people from the boat, which survivors said was made of fiberglass and held around 40 people.

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The coast guard is still searching for the rest of the migrants and refugees.

Meanwhile, Reuters cited Turkey's Dogan news agency as saying 11 migrants and refugees died in a separate sinking further south, off the coast of Dikili.

More than 900,000 people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iran arrived in Greece from Turkey last year.