Twelve migrants drown off Greek coast after boat capsizes

ATHENS (Reuters) - Twelve migrants, including four children, drowned on Friday after their boat capsized just off a Greek island, the coastguard said, adding to the hundreds of deaths this year of people attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing.

Greece is a major gateway into the European Union for migrants from Africa and the Middle East, who cross the sea often in unsafe boats. The breakdown of order in Libya and the civil war in Syria have increased the human traffic.