The Greek coastguard rescued 18 illegal immigrants on Thursday after their boat caught fire and sank off the island of Samos in the eastern Aegean near the Turkish coast, authorities said. "A coastguard vessel rescued 18 illegal immigrants about six-and-a-half miles north of Samos after their boat had earlier caught fire and sank," a Merchant Marine Ministry official told Reuters. The migrants, said to be suffering from hypothermia but in no immediate danger, were believed to be from Algeria and Palestine, according to initial reports.
