Four dead off Greek island after migrant boat runs into trouble

23 September 2024, 15:34

Migration Greece
Migration Greece. Picture: PA

The Greek coast guard said five other people were rescued after the accident off the island of Samos.

At least four migrants died in the eastern Aegean Sea when a small boat bringing them from nearby Turkey sank just off the island of Samos, Greek authorities said.

The coast guard said five other people were rescued after the accident, but it was unclear how many had originally been on the boat and whether any more were missing.

The bodies of four women were found during a large search and rescue operation involving three coast guard patrol boats, a private vessel and an air force helicopter.

Migration Greece
A vessel carrying coast guard officers takes part in a search and rescue operation after a boat carrying migrants ran into trouble off the coast of the island of Samos (Michael Svarnias/AP)

Crews also searched on land in case survivors had managed to reach the shore.

The coast guard said a number of migrants were later located on Samos, but it was not immediately clear whether they were survivors from the shipwreck or had arrived separately.

It was not known how the boat, believed to have been a small dinghy, sank, and there was no immediate information on the identities or nationalities of the survivors and the dead.

Migration Greece
Survivors sit on a vessel after a boat carrying migrants ran into trouble off the coast of the eastern Aegean Sea island of Samos (Michael Svarnias/AP)

Greece lies along one of the most popular routes into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Despite a crackdown by Greek authorities along the land and sea border with Turkey, thousands of people make it across, often from the Turkish coast to Greek islands using flimsy inflatable dinghies.

In recent months, smugglers have also increasingly turned to ferrying migrants in powerful speedboats.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Video footage shows the convoy had emergency lights flashing when it was hit

Israel admits ‘mistakenly’ killing 15 aid workers after video leak contradicted official version of events

Jaguar Land Rover has paused shipments to the US in the wake of 'Liberation Day' tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover halts shipments to US in wake of tariffs as Trump insists he'll win 'economic revolution'

Flowers and toys left on a swing seat to commemorate victims killed in Russia's missile attack on Friday

Death toll from Russian strike on Zelenskyy's home town rises as 18 confirmed dead - including nine children

Donald Trump's 10% tariff on UK products has officially come into force

Trump tariffs come into force as global stock markets plunge deeper into the red

Tom Howard

British tourist killed after being struck by boulder on trek through Himalayas

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a car burns following a Russian missile attack that killed more than a dozen people, including children, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia kills 16 people including three children in missile strike on Zelenskyy's home town, with dozens wounded

Travel influencer Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, made an illegal visit to North Sentinel Island

Tourist who left Coke for world's most isolated tribe 'could have wiped them all out' - and police 'can't go collect can'

White House weighs in to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

White House looking to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

This image provided by NASA shows Nick Hague, right, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore. (NASA via AP)

Stranded NASA astronauts reveal they were almost trapped in space 'forever' after horror malfunction

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen'

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen' after far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement in 'witch hunt'

China will impose a 34% retaliatory tariff on imports from the US

China announces additional 34% tariffs on US imports in retaliation over Trump's 'Liberation Day' levies

Friends of Prince Andrew say he's "unsurprised" Giuffre made the post

Prince Andrew 'not surprised' his accuser shared shock post saying she had 'four days to live'

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office as impeachment upheld over martial law declaration

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’