Cargo Ship Sinks Off Greek Island

One person has died and 12 people were missing on Sunday after a cargo ship carrying salt with 14 crew on board sank off the island of Lesbos, the Greek coast guard said.

The Comoros-flagged Raptor had departed from El Dekheila port in Egypt and was bound for Istanbul when it reported a mechanical failure and issued a distress call early on Sunday, the coast guard added.

"One body recovered from the area," a coast guard official told Reuters adding that one person was rescued by helicopter and was taken to the island's hospital.

Eight of the crew were Egyptians and the rest were Syrian and Indian nationals.

(Reuters - Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Jan Harvey, David Goodman and Alexander Smith)