Hundreds of migrants rescued off Greece
Dramatic rescues, and tragic deaths have increased over the past week during the perilous journey to Greece for migrants and refugees making their way to Europe. At least 23 people drowned in two new shipwrecks as winter weather in the Aegean Sea changed for the worse, turning wind-whipped sea corridors into deadly passages for thousands crossing from Turkey to Greece, October 30, 2015. The death toll over the past three days has reached more than 50.
The Greek coast guard said it rescued 274 refugees and migrants off the eastern island of Lesbos on October 28, 2015, after the wooden boat they traveled in capsized. At least 29 from the boat -- many of them children -- died.
In this photo, women with children cry as they arrive, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos on October 28, 2015, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey.
WARNING: Some photos may contain graphic content
Migrant boats sink
Migrants and refugees, most of them Syrians, struggle to leave a half-sunken boat carrying around 150 refugees as it arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, October 30, 2015. There were no casualties amongst the refugees who were traveling on the catamaran, according to a Reuters witness.
In a separate incident, 19 people were killed and 138 rescued close to the eastern Greek island of Kalymnos. It was one of the worst accidents in Greek waters since the mass migration started.
Migrant boats sink
A young boy and a woman cry out for help with other refugees and migrants as their boat sinks off the Greek island of Lesbos island while crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on October 30, 2015.
Migrant boats sink
A Greek fishing boat (R) sails next to a sinking boat carrying around 150 people, most of them Syrians, attempting to cross from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015. There were no casualties amongst the refugees who were traveling on the boat, according to a Reuters witness.
According to United Nations over half a million refugees and migrants have arrived by sea in Greece this year and the rate of arrivals is rising, in a rush to beat the onset of freezing winter.
Migrant boats sink
A group of mostly of Syrian people, struggle to escape a sinking boat carrying around 150 refugees as it arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015. There were no casualties amongst the refugees who were traveling on the boat, according to a Reuters witness.
Migrants rescued
A man hands over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken boat carrying around 150 people, most of them Syrians, arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015.
Migrant boats sink
A woman hangs on a rope as a half-sunken boat carrying around 150 refugees, most of them Syrians, neared the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015.
Migrants rescued
A volunteer lifeguard carries a baby from a sinking boat carrying around 150 refugees off the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015.
Migrants rescued
A volunteer lifeguard (L) helps a woman after the boat she was in started sinking near the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015.
Migrants arrive in Lesbos
A Syrian woman hugs her crying baby after arriving on a raft on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 27, 2015.
Migrant boat capsized
Greek firemen and rescuers stand next to the bodies of a woman and a boy, after a dinghy carrying refugees and migrants capsized while crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 25, 2015.
Migrant boats capsize
A volunteer carries a rescued child after a large wooden boat carrying more than 200 refugees and migrants sank while crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey, on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 28, 2015.
More than 300,000 migrants and refugees have arrived on Lesbos this year. More than a third of that total arrived in just the month of October.
Migrant boats capsize
Volunteer doctors and paramedics try to revive a baby after a boat carrying more than 200 refugees and migrants sunk while crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey, on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 28, 2015.
Authorities raised the death toll in this incident to 16 while 274 people had been rescued and one remained missing.
Migrant boats capsize
A volunteer carries a young boy after a boat with refugees and migrants sank while crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos, on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015. The condition of the child is not known.
Migrant boats capsize
A woman reacts after her arrival in bad weather from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on a dinghy, Wednesday, October 28, 2015.
Since the start of the year, 560,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece by sea, out of over 700,000 who have reached Europe via the Mediterranean, according to the International Office for Migration (IOM).
Migrant boats capsize
A Greek Coast Guard helicopter flies over fishing boats trying to rescue refugees and migrants, after a boat carrying more than 200 people sank while crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey, near the Greek island of Lesbos, October 28, 2015.
Migrant boats capsize
Doctors and paramedics try to revive a baby who was taken to the hospital in critical condition shortly after the rescue operation, when a boat with migrants sank while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey on October 28, 2015.
Migrant boats capsize
Doctors and paramedics try to revive a child before the child was taken to the hospital in critical condition, following a rescue operation, October 28, 2015.
Migrant boats capsize
Refugees and migrants, rescued from a boat that was carrying more 200 refugees and migrants before it sank in the Aegean Sea, rest in a chapel on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 28, 2015.
Migrant boats capsize
Doctors and paramedics take care of a child who was later taken to the hospital after a rescue operation when a boat with migrants sank while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey on October 28, 2015.
Migrants arrive on Lesbos
Syrian arrive on a raft, in rough seas, on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 27, 2015.
Migrant camp
Refugees and migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos, on October 29, 2015, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey.
Migrants arrive in Lesbor
Refugees and migrants arrive on Lesbos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on October on October 29, 2015.
Migrant boats capsize
A man holds three children wearing thermal blankets after their arrival in bad weather from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, Wednesday, October 28, 2015.