Four dead and 25 survivors in Greece after migrant smuggler allegedly forced his passengers overboard

ATHENS, Greece – Greek authorities have recovered the bodies of four people from the sea just off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Rhodes, while another 25 people have been found alive on land after a migrant smuggler allegedly forced his passengers overboard while she transferred. from Turkey to Greece, the coast guard said Wednesday.

The bodies of three men and a woman were recovered early Wednesday near the coast at the southern tip of Rhodes, the coast guard said. The group of 25 survivors were found on land, with police originally locating an initial group of 11 people shortly after midnight, and the rest found thereafter.

Survivors told authorities they had traveled from the nearby Turkish coast to the Greek island by speedboat when the smuggler operating the ship forced them overboard into the water and took off, the coast guard said.

A search and rescue operation in the area was called off Wednesday afternoon after authorities learned from survivors that no more people were missing. The nationalities of the passengers were not immediately known.

It was the latest fatal case of migrants attempting to enter the European Union via the sea route, either from the nearby Turkish coast or from North Africa across the Mediterranean.

Greece is on a popular route to the European Union for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with tens of thousands of people heading to the Greek islands, usually in smuggling boats from the nearby Turkish coast, or in the longer and longer term. treacherous journey across the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos has said the government is pursuing a tougher EU migration policy and is considering creating detention facilities on the islands of Rhodes and Crete after sea arrivals more than doubled since last autumn.

According to figures from the UN refugee agency, just over 50,000 migrants had been registered as having arrived in Greece at the beginning of November, more than 43,000 of them by sea.