Reuters
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A migrant boat collided with a coast guard vessel, capsized and sank off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea, killing 15 people, the Greek coast guard said late Tuesday. This was one of the worst shipwrecks in Greece in recent years.
The collision occurred after the migrant boat, which had been sailing towards Chios with its navigation lights off, ignored signals from a Coast Guard patrol boat and veered off course, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The force of the impact caused the migrant boat to capsize and sink, sending all its passengers into the sea several miles off the coast of Turkey, the statement said.
Reuters could not independently verify how the collision occurred.
Greek authorities have since recovered 14 bodies and rescued 25 people: seven women, seven men and 11 minors, the statement added.
The migrants, mostly Afghans but including one Moroccan, were taken to hospital, where one of them, a woman, later died.
Immigration Minister Thanos Prevris praised the coast guard’s efforts to rescue the migrants.
“It was the smugglers who killed 15 people, and the coast guard rescued 24,” Plevris told lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday. In response to a question about how a dinghy could ram a Coast Guard vessel, he said, “I trust the Coast Guard.”
Coast Guard officials said the 8-meter-long boat was overloaded and had at least 39 passengers on board. Search and rescue operations were continuing with five Coast Guard vessels and one helicopter.
Greece has long been a preferred gateway to Europe for immigrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
From 2015 to 2016, Greece was at the forefront of Europe’s migration crisis, with nearly a million people landing on Greek islands including Chios from Turkey.
Greece has come under intense scrutiny for its handling of migrants and refugees approaching by sea, including a shipwreck in 2023 in which hundreds of migrants died after the coast guard said it was trying to tow a trawler.
Chios’ port authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.
