(AP) Authorities in Greece said Tuesday they detained 107 migrants in two separate operations near the island of Crete, as an official attributed an increase in people trying to cross the eastern Mediterranean to conflicts in the Middle East.
A cargo ship assisted in the rescue of 42 male migrants from a boat in distress that was abandoned and later broke up after hitting rocks, according to the coast guard and officials from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.
Survivors later told authorities they had departed from the Libyan port of Tobruk. Authorities arrested two men on smuggling charges.
