CHAMILO: Some 1,000 migrants stranded at a camp on the Greek border set off on foot toward Macedonia on Monday in search of an alternative route into the country, an AFP reporter saw, adding that the group was quickly surrounded by Greek police.

The migrants, including many families, marched from the overcrowded Idomeni camp to the village of Chamilo some two kilometers (over one mile) away, closer to the sealed frontier with Macedonia.

Carrying all their belongings, they crossed hills and a river to reach the village, the reporter said.

There was no immediate sign of any Macedonian police across the border.

More than 12,000 people have been stranded at Idomeni in increasingly desperate conditions after the main migrant route to western Europe through the Balkans was effectively shut down last week.

Also on Monday, three Afghan migrants, including a pregnant woman, drowned in a river swelled by heavy rain as they tried to cross into Macedonia.

Another 19 Afghans who tried to cross with them were taken to a nearby reception center by Macedonian authorities and four, who were injured, were taken to hospital, said Natalija Spirova Kordic, a spokeswoman for the interior ministry.

The spokeswoman said the three who drowned were a pregnant woman, her teenage sister, and one man. Earlier she had said the victims were two men and one woman.

“Three migrants from Afghanistan drowned in the waters of the Suva Reka at about 3:30am (0230 GMT) after illegally crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near village of Moin,” said a statement from Macedonia’s crisis management center.

Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, has described the Idomeni camp as “human misery at its peak.”

The deaths came after several days of heavy rain in the border area which has led officials to instigate anti-flooding measures.