Watch - Refugee Rescued As Three Children Drown

Video By Sky News

Three children drown as Syrian refugees are plucked from freezing waters - with the flow of people showing no signs of slowing.

Posted January 16, 2016

Sky News has filmed distressing footage of the ongoing human toll of migrants trying to cross into Europe, with three children drowning in one incident.

Their bodies were pulled from the Aegean Sea after their boat capsized in freezing waters en route from Turkey to the Greek islands.

Rescuers dragged one toddler on board and desperately tried to massage his heart - but the child, aged two, died along with a girl aged four, and another two-year-old boy.

The Syrian survivors said the boat was being driven erratically and a 20-year-old man, who admitted he had no experience, faces criminal charges.

Sky News correspondent Lisa Holland and cameraman Mostyn Price were on board for the night-time patrol by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station).

The charity's speed boats are named after Aylan Kurdi - the Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach last year - and his brother, Galip.

A woman, seven months pregnant, was one of those saved on Thursday night.

Her children were with her for the perilous crossing - the youngest wearing a tiny red life jacket.

As doctors pulled their bodies on board and tried to resuscitate them, their father wailed desperately.

Twelve men, five women and three children were rescued and made it to the safety of the MOAS mother ship - but many were treated for hypothermia.

One of the last to be pulled from the sea was a man clinging onto a mattress - apparently the inexperienced "crazy" driver of the boat.

He told Sky News his name was Oskart, from Turkey, and that he had been forced to pilot the boat.

Wrapped in a reflective gold blanket, a Syrian doctor saved along with his nephew, said: "I don't know what happened but our driver was crazy."

The survivors docked at the Greek island of Agathonisi, their first contact with Europe and the hope of a new life.

The boat driver was arrested and now faces charges of manslaughter.

Tens of thousands of migrants are still trying to cross to Europe each week from Turkey via Greece, in spite of dreadful winter.

MOAS received a €2m (£1.5m) funding boost last year after people were moved by the death of Aylan and Galip.

Its director, Martin Xuereb, told Sky News: "In this part of the world, during this period - December, January, February - the weather can be truly unforgiving and you think because you are in a sheltered bay in Turkey you think that the weather is safe.

"The minute you go out on open seas it's far from safe.

"Despite the weather conditions, despite the treacherous seas, people keep taking to the water, keep crossing and keep dying."

http://news.sky.com/story/1623626/sky-witnesses-distressing-migrants-rescue