Calabria migrant boat disaster

Coast guard have launched a search and rescue operation northwest of Samos after a boat carrying migrants sank in the area.

ERT reports that 20 people have been rescued so far, while two more people are believed to have been on board the vessel.

Three boats and a helicopter are involved in the rescue operation.

Three bodies have been recovered near the site of a migrant shipwreck between Italy and Greece from which more than 60 people were reported missing, a spokesperson for the Italian coast guard said on Tuesday.

In the first seven months of this year, record levels of illegal crossings at EU borders were reported, DPA reported, citing the Union's border agency - Frontex.