国际英语新闻:Five illegal immigrants drown off Greek island in new sea tragedy

ATHENS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Greek Coast Guard found on Friday five bodies, two children among them, who are believed to have drown off the south eastern Aegean Sea island of Kos after the sinking of a boat carrying illegal immigrants to Greece from neighbouring Turkey.

Based on the testimony of a Syrian man who was rescued in the area a few hours earlier, Greek authorities believe that they were all Syrian nationals.

The victims are a 25-year-old man, two women aged 20 and 40, a 13-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy, according to an official press statement.

The survivor said that a boat was carrying a total of 12 undocumented immigrants, including five children, from Turkey to Syria when it sank.

According to the Greek Coast Guard the body of another child aged 8 was retrieved off Turkey's coast by a Turkish vessel.

Also on Friday the Greek Coast Guard found 46 undocumented migrants (22 men, nine women and 15 children) on a boat off the island of Lesvos in north eastern Aegean Sea.

On Thursday they had rescued another 46 persons from a boat which capsized off the nearby island of Chios and retrieved the body of a young man.

Greece is a gateway to the European Union countries for illegal migrants over the past years. Hundreds lose their lives during the attempt to enter Greece illegally in sea tragedies.