ATHENS: Seven illegal migrants were found dead while another nine were rescued by the Turkish coast guard, after they were spotted east of the Greece island Symi.
Authorities are currently investigating the area in search for other survivors, since they believe that the bodies and the survivors they recovered were part of a larger group. The illegal migrants were found near the Turkish shore, during a coast guard mission for the tracking of a boat carrying 20 Syrians and Iraqis trying to enter Greece without papers.
Both Greece and Turkish authorities are currently on an ongoing mission to locate the boat and any other surviving passengers, but so far without any luck. Symi is part of the Rhodes regional unit. It is a small mountainous Greece island with great historical and mythological significance.