Death toll mounts in latest boat tragedies

Dozens of refugees are feared dead after two boat tragedies left rescuers scouring the seas for those who had set out on risky crossings after fleeing war and poverty in their homelands.

Thirteen refugees died after their boat collided with a ferry off the Turkish coast, officials said, while the Greek coast guard fanned out in the choppy waters of the Aegean Sea searching for another 27 people missing after their boat sank off the island of Lesbos.

Coast guard officials said some 29 people were rescued in the two incidents, which followed another sinking near Lesbos on Saturday, in which a girl aged five drowned. Between 10 and 12 people were missing.