Seven children, four men and two women have drowned after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the tiny Greek island of Farmakonisi, as a refugee exodus towards Europe continues despite winter cold.
Another 15 people - 13 men and two women - were rescued and taken for health checks to the nearby island of Leros, where Greece has set up dozens of prefabricated homes.
One person was still missing according to witnesses, coastguard officials said on Wednesday.
"The vessel, a 6-metre speedboat, sank under unknown circumstances," one of the officials told Reuters news agency.
The coastguard has rescued roughly 100,000 people trying to reach Greek islands from mainly Turkish shores this year.
The island of Farmakonisi has a population of about 10 people and is close to Turkey's coast.
A helicopter, two patrol boats and private vessels assisted the rescue operation in the early morning hours.
Fleeing war, thousands of mainly Syrian refugees have braved rough seas this year to make the short but precarious journey from Turkey to Greece's islands, from which most continue to mainland Greece and northward into wealthier western Europe.
Winter conditions make the journey even more dangerous.
"As we enter the winter season, it will only become more difficult," said another Greek official.
"We are out there, night and day, but some tragedies cannot be averted."
More than one million refugees and migrants came to the European Union in 2015, while almost 3700 died or went missing during the journey, which has reaped huge profit for smugglers, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday.
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