12 dead after boat overturns off Greece

At least 12 migrants, including four children, have drowned and another 15 were rescued after their boat capsized in western Greece.

The immigrants had issued an SOS to the coast guard off the Greek island of Lefkada. Another 15 migrants managed to swim to the shore and called for help.

Ministry officials said the migrants were abroad an eight-metre-long plastic vessel. The survivors were being treated at a nearby hospital.

Coast guard boats and divers were searching for survivors in the Palairos area, between Lefkada and the western coast of Greece.

Officials suspect the migrants had arrived to Greece several weeks ago and were heading for Italy.

Greece is a major entry point to the European Union for illegal migrants from Asia and Africa, registering more than a million immigrants in the last decade.