Two Syrian men, aged 26 and 27, appeared before a prosecutor in Rhodes on Tuesday and were given until Thursday to prepare their defence in connection with a boat wreck near the southeastern Aegean island’s main port which led to the death of three immigrants.

Police detained the two men after survivors of the wreck told local police they had paid them to arrange the trip from neighbouring Turkey.

A man, a woman and a child died when the wooden sailing boat carrying 93 migrants – mostly Syrians fleeing strife in the Middle East – from Turkey to Greece smashed into rocks near the port of Rhodes and sank.

The prompt response of residents and the coast guard led to the rescue of 90 of the passengers, six of whom are children.

Meanwhile, rescue workers on Lesvos in the eastern Aegean rescued another 42 migrants whose boat foundered off its coast.

Source: Kathimerini