Six people including a toddler were found dead on Wednesday off the shores of Kos island after a boat transferring refugees and migrants from Turkey to Greece sank, the Greek Coast Guard said.

Greek authorities were alerted by a survivor who made it to the island's shore in the Aegean Sea. He said that there were about ten people on board the small boat that capsized as winds of 4-5 on the Beaufort scale were blowing in the region.

Greek Coast Guard officers have so far recovered the bodies of three men, two women and the toddler, while a rescue operation is underway to locate more survivors.

It's the second tragedy in the Aegean Sea in less than a week after 45 bodies were found on Friday.

More than 45,000 refugees and migrants have crossed over from Turkey to the Greek islands since the start of 2016, according to the International Migration Organization (IMO). More than 60 refugees and migrants have perished in the Greek waters so far.

The statistics confirm the desperation by many to flee war and risk their lives to reach Europe regardless of newly built fences, border controls and rough seas.

In 2015 more than 800,000 refugees and migrants landed on the Greek islands in old boats provided by smugglers on the other side of the Aegean. More than 3,500 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea the same year.