Dozens of migrants missing off Greek coast

Twenty-six migrants are feared missing off the Greek island of Lesbos.

Syrian refugees arrive aboard a dinghy after crossing from Turkey, to the island of Lesbos, Greece, on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. Greece's coast guard was searching Sunday for 26 migrants missing off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos after the boat they were traveling in sank.(AP) Source: AP

Greece's coastguard is searching for 26 migrants missing off the coast of the Aegean island of Lesbos after the boat they were travelling in sank.

The coastguard says a Lithuanian helicopter from the European border patrol agency Frontex spotted people in the sea off the coast of Lesbos on Sunday morning.

Two coastguard vessels headed to the area and rescued 20 people, who said they were in a boat that sank with a total of 46 people on board.

Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, mostly Syrians and Afghans fleeing conflict at home, have arrived in Greece from the nearby Turkish coast so far this year. The vast majority pass through Greece, heading north through the Balkans overland toward the more prosperous countries of the European Union.