15 migrants dead off Greece after boat collision with coast guard
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ATHENS – Fifteen migrants died in the Aegean Sea off Greece on Feb 3 after their boat collided with a coast guard vessel off the island of Chios, the coast guard said.
A coastguard official said they spotted a dingy transporting migrants towards Chios, which lies a few miles off the coast of Turkey, and ordered them to turn back.
“The smugglers manoeuvred toward the coast guard vessel causing a collision,” the official told Reuters.
The coast guard said 25 migrants were rescued but one of them, a woman, later died. A search and rescue operation was ongoing.
Reuters was unable to independently verify how exactly the collision occurred. The nationality of the migrants was not clear.
Two coast guard officers were injured and transferred to hospital and 24 migrants have been rescued, a second official told Reuters.
Witnesses reported that about 30 to 35 people were on board, a government official said.
An ambulance, paramedics and soldiers are seen at the port on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, on Feb 4.
PHOTO: AFP
Greece, in the south-east corner of the European Union, has long been a favoured gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
In 2015 to 2016, Greece was at the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis and nearly one million people landed on its islands, including Chios, from Turkey.
In recent years, arrivals have dropped and Greece has toughened its stance on migrants.
Since 2019, the centre-right government has reinforced border controls with fences and sea patrols.
Greece has come under scrutiny for its treatment of migrants and refugees approaching by sea, including one shipwreck in 2023 in which hundreds of migrants died after what witnesses said was the coastguard’s attempt to tow their trawler.
The EU border agency said in 2025 that it was reviewing 12 cases of potential human rights violations by Greece, including some allegations migrants seeking asylum were pushed back from Greece’s frontiers.
Greece denies that it violates human rights or that it forcefully returns asylum seekers from its shores. REUTERS
