Nine people including four children drowned when a boat carrying migrants from Turkey sank off the Greek island of Kos, the coastguard said Tuesday.
They were the latest of nearly 3,500 deaths at sea this year among people making desperate bids to flee war and poverty and to reach Europe, according to UN figures.
The coastguard said four women were among the latest victims and that the search was still underway late Tuesday for two boys whose family said they were from Iraq.
Seven passengers on the boat were rescued. An earlier provisional toll had put the number of deaths at eight.
The boat, which came from nearby Turkey and capsized overnight, was spotted by the crew of a Finnish ship participating in operations by Frontex, the EU’s border security agency.