Messenia migrant boat disaster

Greek maritime authorities said Monday at least two people - a man and a woman - died and 22 people had to be rescued when a migrant boat sank as it attempted to cross the Aegean toward Greece.

Greece rescued 27 migrants and recovered the bodies of four dead people after their boat sank close to the island of Kos, the Greek coast guard said on Tuesday night.

Three coast guard ships along with a commercial vessel searched for more people in the area, the agency said.

A Panamanian-flagged cargo ship brought 81 men, women and children safely to shore in Kalamata in the southwestern Peloponnese on Sunday, after the smuggling boat they were sailing in ran into trouble off the coast of Pylos, state broadcaster ERT reported on Tuesday.

Greek authorities processed the passengers of the vessel and have arrested four on charges of migrant smuggling. 

Three people were rescued while one was missing after the tourist boat sank in the eastern Aegean on Tuesday afternoon.

The four passengers were Turkish nationals, according to state-run broadcaster ERT. They all ended up in the water when the vessel capsized in unclear circumstances. 

A merchant ship has rescued dozens of migrants from a yacht in distress off the southwestern coast of Greece, Greek authorities said Thursday.

The coast guard said about 70 migrants were on the vessel, and there were no reports of anyone being in ill health. The migrants were being taken to the southern Greek port of Kalamata.

An alleged smuggler who transported migrants in an inflatable boat that sank off the coast of Samos on Monday has been identified, arrested and will be brought before a prosecutor on Tuesday.

Four migrants, a young girl and three women, lost their lives in the shipwreck, while it is believed that one more migrant is missing.

At least four migrants died when their boat sank on Monday off the Greek island of Samos, the Greek Coast Guard said.

At least 30 migrants were believed to be initially on board the vessel that foundered off the rocky shores of Agios Isidoros in the northwestern part of the Aegean island, according to coast guard officials.

One migrant died after smugglers piloting a speedboat from Turkey to an Aegean Sea island forced their passengers into the sea on Tuesday to avoid detection by marine patrols, Greek authorities said.

The remaining 30 migrants on the vessel were unhurt, a coast guard statement said.

High-ranking Hellenic Coast Guard officers have been appearing before the Greek Ombudsman since Monday over the fatal shipwreck off southern Greece in June 2023. 

The process is expected to be completed on September 20, with the examination of the coast guard head himself, Vice Admiral Georgios Alexandrakis.

A cruise ship rescued 77 migrants found overnight in a sailboat in distress far off the southwestern coast of Greece and was transporting them to the nearest major port, Greek authorities said Tuesday.