A search and rescue operation is underway to locate any potentially missing passengers
At least 15 people have tragically died after a speedboat carrying migrants and a coast guard patrol vessel collided. The incident sparked a search and rescue operation off the eastern Aegean island of Chios.
Patrol boats and divers took to the water as a helicopter circled the area. Officials confirmed that the bodies of 14 people – 11 men and three women – were recovered from the sea.
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 coastguard added.
The Greek coast guard said it was not clear how many people had been on the speedboat hence the search and rescue operation to locate any potentially missing passengers.
Footage broadcast by a local news company 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.
There is no 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. Mr Giannakos said on Greece’s Open TV channel that several of those injured required surgery.
