At least 15 people have been killed in a collision between a speedboat carrying migrants and a coastguard patrol boat of the Hellenic Coast Guard, authorities have said.
The collision 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, ultimately crashing into the starboard side of the patrol vessel.
Due to the severity of the impact, the boat capsized and sank, resulting in the fall of all its passengers into the sea. After the collision, a search and rescue operation was immediately launched.
A total of twenty-five injured people (7 men, 7 women and 11 minors) were picked up by a patrol boat of the Hellenic Coast Guard and transported to a hospital on Chios. Subsequently, one woman among them died.
Two members of the Hellenic Coast Guard crew (1 man and 1 woman) were also transported to the hospital. The male has already been discharged, and the woman remains hospitalized for further examinations.
During the investigations, the bodies of 14 people – 11 men and three women – were recovered from the sea and transported to the hospital for an autopsy, the Coast Guard said. In total, there are fifteen bodies.
A preliminary investigation is being conducted by the central port authority of Chios.
A search and rescue operation is under way in the area to locate possibly missing migrants, involving five patrol boats, and a helicopter.
