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3 Drown, Dozens Feared Missing in Migrant Shipwreck Off Greece

A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS
A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS
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3 Drown, Dozens Feared Missing in Migrant Shipwreck Off Greece

A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS
A fishing boat approaches a half-sunken inflatable boat that was carrying migrants off the island of Leros, Greece, February 5, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS

Three people drowned and two dozen are believed to be missing in the second migrant shipwreck off Greece this week, authorities said on Tuesday.

The coast guard said 16 people were rescued in a operation that began in the early hours of Tuesday after an inflatable rubber boat was spotted on rocks along the coast of the island of Lesbos, near Türkiye, Reuters reported.

Survivors told authorities about 41 people were on board the dinghy that had sailed from the Turkish coast. Two coast guard vessels and a Super Puma helicopter were assisting in the search operation amid strong winds, the coast guard said.

Greece has long been one of the main entry points into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Most cross on inflatable boats from Türkiye, a short but perilous journey during which thousands have died.

Four migrants, including three children, died after their boat sank off the island of Leros in the southeastern Aegean Sea on Sunday.

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France Adds First Nuclear Reactor in 25 Years to Grid

A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
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France Adds First Nuclear Reactor in 25 Years to Grid

A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo

France connected the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor to its grid on Saturday morning, state-run operator EDF said, in the first addition to the country's nuclear power network in 25 years.

The reactor, which began operating in September ahead of the grid connection, is going online 12 years later than originally planned and at a cost of around 13 billion euros - four times the original budget.

"EDF teams have achieved the first connection of the Flamanville EPR to the national grid at 11:48am (1048 GMT). The reactor is now generating electricity," EDF said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The Flamanville 3 European Pressurised Reactor is France's largest at 1.6 gigawatts (GW) and one of the world's biggest, along with China's 1.75 GW Taishan reactor, which is based on a similar design, and Finland's Olkiluoto.

It is the first to be connected to the grid since Civaux 2 in 1999 but is being brought into service at a time of sluggish consumption, with France exporting a record amount of electricity this year.

EDF is planning to build another six new reactors to fulfil a 2022 pledge made by President Emmanuel Macron as part of the country's energy transition plans, although questions remain around the funding and timeline of the new projects.