Tragedy and hardship struck the northern and southern ends of a much-traveled asylum seekers’ trail through Europe on Sunday, with more than two dozen people missing after a boat carrying refugees and migrants capsized off Greece, and Austria left staggered by the arrival a day earlier of up to 13,000 people.
Greek coast guard vessels hurried to the scene of the latest sinking, off the eastern island of Lesbos, which has been a prime transit pont for those beginning an arduous journey to northern and western Europe. Many make the risky crossing in frail and unseaworthy rubber rafts.