Greek coast guard ship and migrant boat collide, killing at least 15 people

On the evening of February 3, 2026, a tragic collision occurred off the eastern Aegean island of Chios between a Greek coast guard patrol vessel and a speedboat carrying migrants, resulting in at least 15 fatalities. The incident prompted an extensive search and rescue operation involving four patrol vessels, an air force helicopter, and a private boat equipped with divers. The Greek coast guard reported that the bodies of 14 individuals—11 men and three women—were recovered from the sea, while 25 migrants, including about 11 children, were rescued and transported to a hospital on Chios. Two coast guard officers injured in the collision were also taken to the hospital, where one of the injured women later succumbed to her injuries, raising the death toll to 15. The exact number of people on board the migrant speedboat remains unclear, and the search for potentially missing passengers continues. Video footage from a local news site showed rescue efforts, including the transfer of injured individuals and children to coast guard vehicles. The cause of the collision is still under investigation. Michalis Giannakos, head of Greece's public hospital workers' union, stated that hospital staff in Chios were on high alert to handle the influx of injured migrants, with several requiring surgery. Greece serves as a primary entry point into the European Union for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Fatal accidents during these perilous crossings are not uncommon, though increased patrols and allegations of pushbacks by Greek authorities have reduced the number of crossing attempts. In December 2025, the European Union began overhauling its migration system, aiming to streamline deportations and increase detentions amid a fierce debate among EU members. The public debate on migration has intensified since a surge in asylum-seekers a decade ago, leading to the rise of far-right parties and a hardening of EU migration policies. Last month, the United Nations' migration agency warned of hundreds of migrants missing or feared dead following multiple deadly shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean in January. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) expressed deep concern over the reports, noting that several boats were involved over the past 10 days, with preliminary information suggesting hundreds of people may be missing or dead. The IOM highlighted that the Central Mediterranean remains the deadliest migration corridor in the world, with at least 1,340 lives lost there in 2025 alone. Between 2014 and the end of 2025, more than 33,000 migrants died or went missing in the Mediterranean, according to the IOM's Missing Migrants Project.