Athens, Nov 15 (IANS): At least 12 people, including four children, died and several were missing after a vessel with undocumented migrants aboard capsized early Friday off a Greek island.

Fifteen survivors have told Greek authorities that there were more people on board when the accident happened near the western Greek island of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea, Xinhua reported citing local media.

A search for other victims was under way and the survivors were taken to a hospital on the island for observation.

Early reports said the Greek Coast Guard had recovered the bodies of eight passengers after the plastic boat, seven to eight meters long, sank.

The nationalities of the passengers and the route of the boat had not yet been ascertained, local officials told Xinhua.

Greece has become an illegal immigration gateway to the European Union in recent years. Each year, hundreds of people have died in similar tragedies while attempting to enter Greece.