[WATCH] Three migrants drown after shipwreck near Rhodes

Three migrants, including a child, have drowned after the boat carrying them ran aground off the Greek island of Rhodes.

Greek media outlets have reported that the boat, carrying more than 200 irregular immigrants, hit a reef at Zephyros beach in Rhodes on Monday. The migrants started jumping into the sea and swimming to the shore, but three of them- a man, a woman and a child – failed to make it.

A Greek coast guard official told Reuters that 80 people have been rescued so far, 23 of which have been taken to hospital. A search-and-rescue operation is ongoing.

According to preliminary information released by Greek authorities, the boat was a so-called ‘ghost-ship’, whose human smuggler operators had started its journey off in Turkey, but abandoned it in the middle of the sea. 

This is the third Mediterranean shipwreck tragedy in the past ten days.400 migrants have been feared drowned after their boat capsized off Libya on April 12, while 650 migrants have been feared drowned after their boat capsized in Libyan waters on April 19.