One dead and dozens rescued by Greek coast guard in migrant boat incidents

A search and rescue operation after a boat carrying migrants ran into trouble off the coast of the eastern Aegean Sea island of Samos, Greece on September 23. Picture: AP Photo/Michael Svarnias

A dinghy carrying migrants towards the eastern Greek island of Kos capsized in rough weather overnight, leaving one person dead, while dozens more people were rescued from a yacht in southern Greece, the coast guard said.

It said the dinghy was carrying 16 people when it capsized south east of Kos near the Turkish coast.

A coast guard vessel rescued 15 people and pulled an unresponsive woman from the water.

Two of the survivors were treated in hospital.

Separately, another coast guard vessel rescued 78 people from a wooden boat in distress travelling south of the far-southern Greek island of Gavdos, the coast guard said.

There were no reports of any injuries or missing people, and the boat’s passengers were being transported to the southern island of Crete.

The rescues came a day after a merchant ship rescued dozens of migrants from a yacht in distress off the southwestern coast of Greece.

The coast guard said about 70 migrants were on the vessel and were being taken to the southern Greek port of Kalamata.

There was no information immediately available on the nationalities of the migrants in any of the incidents.

Typically, smuggling gangs cram dozens of people into yachts, fishing boats or dinghies that leave Turkey for nearby Greek islands or for Italy, travelling through the central Aegean Sea.

Each passenger is charged several thousand pounds for the trip.

The route to Italy skirts eastern Aegean waters that are heavily patrolled by Greece’s coast guard.