Six dead as migrant speedboat capsizes off Samos, hours after Lesbos collision

Samos capsizing

A speedboat carrying migrants overturned in the sea 3.7 nautical miles north of Samos, according to the Greek coast guard's reports published on Monday, 19 October. As of the latest count, six people had been found without signs of life, five men and one woman. Fourteen people were rescued, all of them men, and among the survivors is a man described as the alleged smuggler, an Iranian national whose age has not yet been established. The coast guard said the boat was traveling at high speed and was first spotted by a Turkish coast guard vessel inside Turkish territorial waters. A Greek coast guard patrol boat picked it up after it entered Greek waters, and the boat capsized after a sudden maneuver.

Lesbos collision

Early on Monday, 19 October, six migrants were recovered dead from the sea south of Agrilia on Lesbos, a few hours before the Samos capsizing. The coast guard said the speedboat was being pursued and was making evasive turns when its bow struck the port side of a coast guard patrol vessel. Some of the people aboard reportedly fell into the water after the collision. Eight people were rescued in that operation: four men, two women and two children. The dead were four men, one woman and an infant, and the incident took place 3.5 nautical miles south of Agrilia.

Search and rescue response

The two incidents were separate events, and the Samos capsizing came a few hours after the Lesbos collision. Off Samos, the search and rescue operation is coordinated by the national search and rescue coordination centre, known by its Greek acronym EKSEDE. The response involves an open-sea coast guard vessel, a rescue boat and an Air Force helicopter. The coast guard reported that weather conditions in the area were good. Searches for any missing people are still under way, so the figures reported so far may change as the operation continues. Both sets of numbers are early counts from the first hours of the day.