68 undocumented migrants were sighted and rescued on Monday northwest of Leros, the Greek Coast Guard announced.
The sailboat, believed to have set sail from Turkey carrying migrants hoping to reach Greece, issued a distress call early Monday. The coast guard said the passengers were initially picked up by a passing merchant ship before being transferred to a coast guard vessel.
All were safely transported to Leros, and there were no reports of any injuries or people missing. The nationalities of those on board were not immediately available.
The sailboat rescue comes days after a massively overcrowded fishing trawler transporting people from Libya to Italy sank off western Greece last week, with hundreds of migrants feared drowned. The trawler is believed to have been carrying around 700 or 750 people when it capsized and sank in international waters west of Greece last Wednesday.
So far 104 people have been rescued, and 78 bodies recovered. A search and rescue operation continues in the area, but chances of finding any other survivors are exceptionally slim.
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