A four-year-old girl has died after being washed ashore by a migrant boat drifting in the Mediterranean Sea, the Greek coast guard said today, as quoted by DPA.

The incident occurred west of the Greek island of Crete during an operation in which 61 people were rescued.

The girl, who was unconscious when taken off the boat, was flown by Navy helicopter with her mother to an island hospital, but was pronounced dead from exhaustion and dehydration.

According to media reports, the boat was found drifting about 50 nautical miles west of the island of Crete.

The remaining 61 people on board were rescued by a passing cargo ship.

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The information states that there was no food on board and that the drinking water had run out when the boat was found.

The survivors were landed on the coast of the island of Crete.

No information yet on their nationalities.

The boat is believed to have been trying to reach the Italian coast after leaving Turkey or another Middle Eastern country.

Migrants are increasingly taking this dangerous route in unsuitable vessels as Greek authorities take tough measures to protect their sea border with Turkey.

Human traffickers already avoid the much shorter route to the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean, near the Turkish coast.

It is not known how many people died in the frequent shipwrecks and accidents along this longer route.

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