ATHENS – Greek coast guard teams, including patrol boats and a helicopter, launched a search operation on Wednesday in the waters off an eastern Aegean island following a tragic overnight collision. The incident, involving a patrol vessel and a migrant-laden speedboat, resulted in the deaths of at least 15 individuals.
The collision, which occurred late Tuesday night, left 24 migrants injured, among them 11 children, all of whom are currently receiving medical care on the island of Chios. Additionally, two coast guard officers sustained injuries; one remains hospitalized as of Wednesday, according to the coast guard’s report.
Authorities have confirmed the recovery of the bodies of 11 men and three women from the sea shortly after the collision. Sadly, another woman succumbed to her injuries later at the hospital.
It remains uncertain how many people were aboard the speedboat at the time of the collision. The search operation, initiated overnight, involved four patrol boats, two helicopters, and divers. Efforts continued into Wednesday morning, utilizing a helicopter and five patrol vessels.
The exact circumstances of the incident are still being investigated. A coast guard statement revealed that the encounter began when a patrol boat identified a speedboat heading towards Chios without navigation lights on late Tuesday night. Despite sound and visual warnings from the patrol crew, the speedboat did not halt and instead altered its course, ultimately crashing into the patrol boat and overturning, according to the statement.
Photographs released by the coast guard display abrasions on the right side of the patrol vessel. Independent verification of the coast guard’s account is currently unavailable.
Michalis Giannakos, the head of Greece’s public hospital workers’ union, said Tuesday night that staff at the hospital in Chios were placed on alert overnight to handle the sudden influx of injured and dead. Speaking on Greece’s Open TV channel, Giannakos said several of the injured required surgery.
Greece is a major entry point into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Fatal accidents are common. Many undertake the short but often perilous crossing from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in the eastern Aegean, often in overcrowded inflatable dinghies. Others use high-speed vessels piloted by smugglers who deposit them on the island and then return to Turkey. But increased patrols and allegations of pushbacks — summary deportations without allowing for asylum applications — by Greek authorities have reduced crossing attempts.
Greece, along with several other European Union countries, has been tightening its regulations on migration. In December, the European Union was overhauling its migration system, including streamlining deportations and increasing detentions.
There has long been a fierce debate among EU members about migration. Since a surge in asylum-seekers and other migrants to Europe a decade ago, public debate on the issue has shifted and far-right parties have gained political power. EU migration policies have hardened, and the number of asylum-seekers is down from record levels.
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