A migrant boat sinks near the Greek island of Samos, killing 6 children and 2 adults

SAMOS, Greece (AP) — Eight people, including six children, have died when a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of the Greek island of Samos. The coast guard said Monday that 36 survivors were found on a rocky shoreline, while three others were rescued earlier. It was not immediately clear whether others were still missing. It says a rescue operation is continuing. In a separate incident on a different island, an elderly man died as a group of 27 migrants made landfall in a small boat. Greece’s eastern Aegean Sea islands serve as key transit points for migrants entering the European Union illegally from nearby Turkey. Migrant crossings have increased in recent months amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.