Seven die, 23 rescued in Greece boat accident

Seven people, including two children, died and 23 others were rescued Thursday when an inflatable boat carrying migrants capsized off the Greek island of Lesbos, the coast guard said.

The coast guard initially said four bodies had been discovered in the Aegean Sea but after a search by patrol boats, three others were found, a spokeswoman told AFP.

The boat was carrying about 30 people and capsized in mild weather a short distance from the coast of neighbouring Turkey.

“Their boat took on water and started to sink,” the spokeswoman said, adding that searches for any other survivors were ongoing.

Among the dead were four women, a boy and a girl, the coast guard said. No details have been released about the three others, including their country of origin.

Greece’s location in the far southeast of Europe in the eastern Mediterranean Sea makes its islands a common passage for undocumented migrants from Asia and the Middle East trying to reach western Europe.

Deaths are commonplace during the perilous crossing. The UN said nearly 2,500 people were reported to have died last year.

Last month, Greek maritime police said one migrant died and 18 others were rescued after a smuggler abandoned them as they tried to cross from Turkey.

According to the UN refugee agency, nearly 9,000 people have entered Greece since the start of the year, most of them by sea.

There were over 54,000 entries in 2024, according to the agency’s figures.

Greece’s conservative government has hardened the country’s stance on migration.

“If you want to enter Greece illegally and are not entitled to asylum, we will do whatever we can to send you back where you came from,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in parliament on Wednesday.

“Smugglers and NGOs cooperating with them will not determine who enters our country,” he said.

AFP