About 150 migrants rescued from two sailboats off western Greece and in the Aegean Sea
Associated PressATHENS, Greece — About 150 migrants were rescued from overloaded sailboats provided by smugglers in two separate incidents Wednesday far off a western Greek island and off a Cycladic island near the Greek capital, the coast guard said. In the first case, a group of 76 people was rescued from a yacht in distress 64 nautical miles southwest of the Ionian Sea island of Zakynthos in western Greece, a coast guard statement said. Also Wednesday, in two separate incidents the Greek coast guard picked up 29 migrants from boats off islands near Turkey in the eastern Aegean Sea. Greece has seen an increase in the arrival of smuggling boats bringing migrants into the country over the last two months, mainly small dinghies heading to eastern Aegean islands from the nearby Turkish coast.