Migrant-smuggling boat collides with coast guard vessel off Lesbos: six dead, eight rescued
Six people lost their lives and eight were rescued following a collision between a speedboat and a coast guard vessel south of Lesbos. A 37-year-old Turkish smuggler was arrested.
Tragedy off Lesbos: smuggler turned boat against coast guard — six dead
A collision between a speedboat carrying foreign nationals and a patrol vessel of the Hellenic Coast Guard occurred on Thursday evening in a maritime area 3.5 nautical miles south of Agrielia, Lesbos, according to hcg.gr. The result of the violent collision was that six people lost their lives and eight were pulled alive from the water.
The Naval Station of Agrielia initially spotted the fibreglass speedboat moving without navigational lights and at high speed towards Greek waters. The coast guard patrol vessel immediately activated visual and acoustic signals, which the operator ignored. Rather than comply, he suddenly changed course towards the coast guard vessel, which executed an evasion manoeuvre to the right — but was unable to avoid a collision on its port side.
The force of the collision ejected passengers into the sea. The speedboat was completely devoid of navigational and rescue equipment.
Under the coordination of the Unified Coordination Centre for Search and Rescue (EKCED), a large-scale rescue operation was immediately launched. It involved one open-sea vessel, one patrol ship, three patrol boats of the coast guard, a vessel from the Hellenic Rescue Team (ERD) and a helicopter of the Hellenic Air Force.
In total, eight foreign nationals were pulled from the water and were transported by EKAB ambulances to General Hospital Mytilene "Vostaneo" for medical treatment. At the same time, six bodies were recovered — four men, one woman and an infant — which were transferred to the Medical Examiner's Office in Mytilene. The crew of the coast guard patrol vessel is in good health. According to statements from the survivors, there are no missing persons.
The Port Authority of Mytilene, which is conducting the preliminary investigation, arrested a 37-year-old Turkish national, identified as the smuggler. The accused faces charges under the Immigration Code (Law 5038/23), the law on foreign nationals (Law 3386/05), as well as criminal provisions for causing a shipwreck, wilful manslaughter, dangerous bodily injury, obstruction of communications, disobedience, exposure and damage to foreign property.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)