Greek authorities say 70 migrants found in northern forest

Children walk inside a refugee camp, in the village of Vasilika near the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. Temperatures in northern Greece are set to plunge below zero overnight Tuesday for the first time in the region this winter, finding thousands of immigrants still stranded in tents at refugee camps in area. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) (The Associated Press)

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Syrian refugees wait to be picked up by the police on the outskirts of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016.Authorities in Greece say they have picked up about 70 migrants, including children, found in the forested area after a truck driver left them and they spent the night in the snow. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) (The Associated Press)

Syrian refugees embark to police vehicle on the outskirts of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Authorities in Greece say they have picked up about 70 migrants, including children, found in the forested area after a truck driver left them and they spent the night in the snow. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) (The Associated Press)

THESSALONIKI, Greece – Authorities in Greece say they have picked up about 70 migrants, including children, found in a forested area on the outskirts of the northern city of Thessaloniki.

The group, who said they were from Syria, told police Wednesday that they had crossed the Greek-Turkish border and had been transported to the area hidden in a truck. The truck driver left them in the forest late Tuesday, and they spent the night there in the snow. Temperatures have plunged below freezing in the past two days across the country.

Under a European Union-Turkey agreement reached in March, migrants and refugees arriving on Greek islands from Turkey face deportation back to Turkey. The agreement, however, doesn't extend to those crossing the land border between the two countries.