Refugee crisis: Many die, dozens missing in Aegean Sea

A number of migrants were killed and dozens went missing in consecutive accidents that occurred in the Aegean Sea, off the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos over the last 24 hours, it was reported.

The Greek coast guard said 25 bodies have either been recovered or washed ashore so far, but it is unclear how many people are missing. Four children were among the victims.

Greek Marine Gendarmerie Forces, fishing boats, and vessels, belonging to the European border agency, Frontex, were involved in the rescue operations. Rescuers and first responders strived to revive and resuscitate refugees, discovered in semi-conscious states.

Search teams are still looking for the missing but there is little hope of finding survivors at this point.

Rescuers recovered bodies of two babies and an adolescent off Posidonio Bay. A five-year-old girl was found dead while two others are believed to be missing off Agios Konstantinos, a village located in East Attice, Greece.

Coast guard officials said bodies of an elderly woman and two infants washed ashore on the Greek island of Agathonisi. First-aiders, administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a child removed from the water.

It is feared that the death toll will rise to 100 as search-and-rescue efforts were hampered by vicious waves and bad weather conditions. The coast guard say the death toll could rise dramatically, as survivors indicated that hundreds had been on board the boats when they capsized.

Two hundred and forty-two refugees, rescued by coast guard boats, have been hosted in tent camps on Lesbos, while 15 children, retrieved from water when they nearly drowned, were taken to a pediatric hospital on the island.

Three children found in serious condition were airlifted by a C130 military plane to an intensive care unit at another hospital in the Greek capital, Athens.

The Greek coast guard authority rescued 925 people adrift in the Agean Sea over the past four days. They had survived 20 accidents at sea off the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Kos and Chios.

More than 2,000 are estimated to have died in 2015 trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, according to BBC. European Union (EU) leaders agreed to increase spending on search and rescue operations, but smugglers continue to send desperate refugees on the dangerous journey.