Coast guard collides with migrant boat At least 15 dead after boat accident off Chios
At least 15 migrants, including children, have died in a serious boat accident off the Greek island of Chios. A speedboat capsized after a collision with a coastguard patrol boat.
04.02.2026, 00:22
04.02.2026, 09:38
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- Off the Greek island of Chios, at least 15 people have died in a collision between a migrant speedboat and a patrol boat, while 24 people were injured, some of them seriously.
- According to the coastguard, the helmsman of the speedboat ignored signals to stop, which led to the collision and capsizing; the serious injuries suffered by the survivors support this account.
- The search and rescue operations are continuing and the accident once again underlines the high risks of the Aegean escape route, on which thousands of migrants reach the EU every year.
At least 15 people have died and 24 people have been injured, some of them seriously, including eleven children, in a shipwreck off the Aegean island of Chios.
According to the Greek coast guard, a speedboat with migrants on board is said to have rammed into a patrol boat and then capsized. According to the island's hospital, the victims are all migrants. The search and rescue operations continued in the morning, according to the coastguard.
Dead and seriously injured recovered
According to the Ministry of Health, 14 bodies were recovered from the sea - eleven men and three women. Another woman later succumbed to her serious injuries at Chios General Hospital. Numerous people, including children, received medical treatment.
Two rescued pregnant women had to be operated on, but their unborn babies were already dead. Doctor Ioannis Manafis, who is also the mayor of the island's capital, said this on Greek radio.
Accident off the east coast of Chios
According to the coast guard, dozens of migrants were on a boat with a powerful engine that was heading towards Chios from Turkey. The helmsman of the speedboat had not complied with the coastguard's light and loudspeaker signals to stop immediately.
As a result, the speedboat collided with the right side of the coast guard patrol boat. The force of the collision caused the speedboat to capsize, causing all the occupants to fall into the sea. The investigation is ongoing, the coast guard added.
Serious injuries indicate collision
According to Christos Tsiachris, the director of the Chios hospital, the injuries suffered by the 24 rescued migrants - including liver and kidney lacerations and severe head injuries - support the version of a collision. Two members of the coast guard were also slightly injured.
According to reports by local media reporters, there was great excitement in the port of the island of Chios throughout the night. Injured people were constantly being transported to the local hospital by rescue teams.
The coast guard had launched a search and rescue operation together with the Greek air force. A helicopter with thermal imaging technology was also used, as more people were suspected to be in the water.
Escape route across the Aegean remains dangerous
Smuggling gangs regularly bring migrants from Turkey to the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, around 42,000 migrants reached these islands and Crete, and therefore the EU, by sea last year.
The UNHCR recorded 107 deaths in the eastern Mediterranean last year. However, officers of the Greek coast guard assume that the number of unreported cases is significantly higher.
