At least 15 dead after migrant speedboat and Greek coast guard vessel collide

A search and rescue operation involving patrol boats, a helicopter and divers is under way in the area. File image of the Aegean sea by the Greek island of Chios. Picture: AP Photo/ Petros Giannakouris

A collision between a speedboat carrying migrants and a Greek coast guard patrol vessel off the eastern Aegean island of Chios has killed at least 15 people, officials said.

A search and rescue operation involving patrol boats, a helicopter and divers is under way in the area.

The bodies of 14 people — 11 men and three women — were recovered from the sea, the coast guard said, while another 25 migrants, including about 11 children, were rescued and transported to a hospital on Chios, as were two coast guard officers who were injured in the incident.

One of the injured women later died in hospital, the coast guard added, bringing the total death toll to at least 15.

The coast guard said it was not immediately clear how many people had been on the speedboat, and a search and rescue operation is under way for potentially missing passengers.

Video footage by a local news site showed at least one person being carried in a blanket from a coast guard boat moored on the side of a jetty into a waiting coast guard vehicle with blue flashing lights, as others appear to lead two children toward the car.

The coast guard did not immediately have further information on exactly how the collision occurred.

Michalis Giannakos, the head of Greece’s public hospital workers’ union, said staff at the hospital in Chios were all on alert to handle the sudden influx of injured and were on standby for potentially more people.

Speaking on Greece’s Open TV channel, Mr Giannakos said several of the injured required surgery.