Cypriot police said the body of a man was retrieved off the Mediterranean islands western coast Thursday after newly arrived migrants said one among them had fallen overboard.<\/p>\n
Police said a group of 44 Syrians including two women and four children were found wandering in the Peyia area north of Paphos.<\/p>\n
The migrants told police that a man on the boat they were travelling in had gone missing before they reached the shore.<\/p>\n
Authorities launched a rescue operation, and the body of a man was discovered in the waters.<\/p>\n
A police official said the body was found after an extensive search using a helicopter, but it had yet to be formally identified.<\/p>\n
The missing migrant was reported to be a 24-year-old Syrian.<\/p>\n
Police believe the Syrians were smuggled from Turkey and dropped off pre-dawn before the boat departed.<\/p>\n
Cyprus has complained that people smugglers have driven a huge rise in asylum seekers landing on its shores from Turkey in recent years.<\/p>\n
The small EU state has lobbied Brussels to take action over the disproportionate numbers of asylum seekers it receives.<\/p>\n
After being processed, the migrants who arrived on Thursday morning will be transferred to a reception centre outside the capital Nicosia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Go here to see the original:<\/p>\n
One dead off Cyprus as more than 40 Syrian migrants arrive - Macau Business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cypriot police said the body of a man was retrieved off the Mediterranean islands western coast Thursday after newly arrived migrants said one among them had fallen overboard. Police said a group of 44 Syrians including two women and four children were found wandering in the Peyia area north of Paphos. The migrants told police that a man on the boat they were travelling in had gone missing before they reached the shore. Continue reading