Greek authorities have recovered the body of a man and rescued 39 migrants from the sea after their boat capsized off the southern Mediterranean island of Gavdos, Reuters reported, citing the Greek coast guard.
Many are still missing, according to witnesses, and the coast guard launched a search operation involving ships and aircraft after they were alerted to the incident on Friday evening.
In other incidents on Saturday, a Maltese-flagged cargo ship rescued 47 migrants from a boat about 40 nautical miles from Gavdos, while a tanker rescued another 88 migrants about 28 nautical miles from the tiny island in southern Greece.
Initial information suggests the coast guard believes the boats left Libya together.
According to media reports, over the past year there has been an increase in incidents involving migrant boats and shipwrecks off the coast of Crete and the nearby tiny island of Gavdos.