Greek coastguard rescues 75 migrants at sea

Greece's coastguard on Friday said it had rescued 75 migrants on board a sailboat caught in stormy seas south of the Peloponnese peninsula.

The 69 men and six women were in good health after the sailboat was safely towed to a local port, the coastguard said in a statement.

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Their nationalities were not disclosed.

Greece has seen increased migration traffic this year, often carried out under adverse weather conditions.

At least 30 people drowned in two migrant boat sinkings near the Peloponnese and the island of Lesbos earlier this month.

Greece, Italy and Spain are among the first ports of call for people fleeing Africa and the Middle East in search of safety and better lives in the European Union.

The Greek coastguard says it has rescued about 1,500 people in the first eight months of the year, up from less than 600 last year.

Greek officials say that smugglers now often take the longer and more perilous route in the south, sailing out from Lebanon instead of Turkey, to bypass EU patrols in the Aegean Sea.

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