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Fifteen migrants died when their overloaded boat collided with a Greek Coast Guard vessel off the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea late Tuesday evening, according to multiple sources. The collision caused the death of 11 men and four women, while wounding 25 people, including children and two coast guard officers. The exact number of people aboard the overloaded vessel is not clear.
The eight-meter migrant boat was traveling with its navigation lights switched off when it ignored signals from the coast guard patrol vessel and changed course, ultimately crashing into the starboard side of the patrol vessel, according to Reuters. The boat then capsized and sank.
“Modern-day smugglers, human traffickers, are enemies of this country,” said V. Kikilias, Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs, in a statement. “They place human lives in mortal danger: both the lives of these unfortunate people and the lives of the Hellenic Coast Guard personnel.”
Coast guard crews rescued 25 migrants but one woman later died at the hospital, bringing the total death toll to 15. The migrants were mostly Afghans, with one Moroccan national among them.
“The smugglers are the ones who killed 15 people; the coast guard rescued people,” Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday, defending the coast guard’s actions when questioned about how a small dinghy could ram a coast guard vessel.
Questions were raised about whether shots were fired during the incident, but Christos Tsiachris, director of Skylitseio General Hospital of Chios, said in a television interview that several migrants had undergone surgery and that none of the injured showed gunshot wounds. He did not provide the current medical condition of the two coast guard crew members.
The deadly incident highlights the continuing dangers faced by migrants attempting to reach Greek islands from Turkey. The overcrowded vessel was carrying significantly more passengers than its size could safely accommodate.
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