Greece’s coast guard said Thursday at least 15 people were dead after two boats carrying migrants sank in separate incidents. 

Authorities said one boat carrying about 40 people went down near the eastern island of Lesbos, near Turkey. 

Fifteen bodies were recovered and five people were rescued, with a search ongoing for the rest of the migrants. 

A second boat went down off the island of Kythira after hit rocks. 

Authorities said they rescued 30 people from the second boat. 

Both vessels were operating amid winds as high as 100 kilometers per hour. 

Migrants typically reach Greece form neighboring Turkey, but smugglers have been utilizing longer and more dangerous routes to avoid patrols in the Aegean Sea. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.  
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