Search in Greece for child missing after migrant boat ran aground on Aegean island

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities were searching for a second day Monday for a child reported missing off the Aegean Sea island of Samos after a small boat carrying migrants ran aground on a rocky shore.

A coast guard statement said 46 migrants, including 21 children, made it safely to land and were located Sunday. One of the survivors alerted authorities that her child fell into the water and disappeared as the inflatable dinghy hit the rocks.

Divers and coast guard patrol vessels combed the area but found no trace of the child.

The nationalities of the people on the boat were not immediately known. Greece is a main entry point for people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia seeking a better life in the European Union.

Most arrive in small boats that make the short crossing from Turkey’s western coast to Samos and other eastern Aegean islands.

In a separate incident, Greece’s coast guard said 40 migrants, including nine children, were taken to a reception center on the eastern island of Chios Monday, after being found on an outlying islet.