Fifteen migrants die after boat collides with Greek coast guard vessel off island of Chios

Athens: Fifteen migrants died after their boat collided with a Greek coast guard ​vessel, capsized and sank off the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea late on Tuesday, the coast guard said, in ‌one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in Greece in years.

The incident occurred after a ⁠migrant boat sailing towards Chios with its navigation ‌lights switched off ignored signals from a coast guard patrol vessel and changed course, the coast guard said in a statement.

All those on board were thrown into the sea a few miles off the Turkish coast, it said. Reuters was unable to independently verify how the collision occurred.

So far, the bodies of 14 adults have been recovered and the coast guard rescued 25 others – seven women, seven ​men and 11 minors, the statement said. One woman later died in hospital on Chios, bringing the death toll to 15.

Two pregnant women suffered miscarriages while at least three other survivors were in critical condition, doctors said.

Coast guard officials said the eight-metre boat was overloaded, with at least 39 passengers on board. Divers were deployed ‌to assist with ‌retrieving bodies, as authorities continued to search for possible survivors.

"What we first saw was an inflatable boat…that was hit with dead bodies inside," said volunteer diver Vangelis Kirithras.

The shipping ministry ⁠has ordered an investigation.

Mostly Afghans on board

The migrants were mostly Afghans. One Moroccan survivor was considered a suspect and was set to be arrested on charges of migrant smuggling, sources told Reuters.

The camera on the coast guard vessel was not activated at the time of the incident, they added.

Migration Minister Thanos ⁠Plevris praised the coast guard for their efforts to save the migrants.

"The smugglers are the ⁠ones who killed 15 people; the coast guard rescued 24 people," Plevris told parliament on Wednesday. Responding ‌to a question about how a dinghy could ram a coast guard vessel, he said: "I believe the ‌coast guard."

Greece has long been a favoured gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

In 2015-16, it was at the frontline of Europe's migration crisis and nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, including Chios, from Turkey.

Greece ‍has since 2019 toughened its stance on migrants, reinforcing border controls with fences and sea patrols.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights found violations of human rights by Greece over a case at its land border with Turkey, referring in its ruling to a "systematic practice of pushbacks".

The latest tragedy has renewed scrutiny of Greece's treatment of migrants and refugees approaching by sea. Hundreds of migrants died in a shipwreck in 2023 after what witnesses said was the coast guard's attempt to tow their trawler.

On Wednesday, rights group Refugee Support Aegean accused authorities of deploying an interception instead of a search-and-rescue operation.

"The tragedy in Chios is not an isolated incident. Systematic deterrence and non-rescue practices carried ​out in Greece, and more broadly at the ‌external borders of the European Union... repeatedly result in loss of human lives," RSA said.

Greece says it respects international law and human rights and that its coast guard has saved thousands of people.