Athens, November 2 (RHC)-- At least 11 refugees, including six children, have died after their boat overturned on its route from Turkey to Greece, the Greek coastguard said.

The boat overturned early on Sunday off the Greek island of Samos, the coastguard said, adding that four of the dead were babies. "We recovered 11 drowned bodies, 10 of which were trapped inside the vessel's cabin," the coastguard said. The other victim had reportedly been washed up on the island. Fifteen people were rescued and a rescue operation was under way to find two missing refugees.

The incident was the latest in a string of refugee boat tragedies off the Greek shore. At least 60 people, including 28 children, have died near the Greek islands of Rhodes, Kalymnos and Lesbos since Monday.

Europe is facing record refugee arrivals. While a few European leaders support an open-door refugee policy, others are in favor of controlling the EU's external borders, deporting more people and paying third countries to keep asylum seekers on their soil.

Officials in the European countries reportedly remain divided over how to deal with refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-hit zones in the Middle East and Africa.

According to the latest figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 724,228 refugees have reached Europe's shores so far this year while a total of 3,329 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.