The migrant boat sank off the coast of Lesbos. Six dead, eight injured

A speedboat carrying immigrants, which set out from Türkiye off the coast of Lesbos Island in Greece, collided with a Greek coast guard boat and capsized.

Greek authorities announced that six immigrants, including a baby, lost their lives in the incident that occurred in the early hours of Monday morning.

The accident occurred approximately 3.5 nautical miles south of Agrilia on Lesbos.

According to the Reuters news agency, coast guard teams found the dead bodies of four men, a woman and a baby; The eight people who survived the accident were hospitalized.

THE RESCUE TURKISH CITIZEN WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY

Authorities detained a 37-year-old Turkish citizen, who was among the survivors of the accident, on the grounds that he was a suspected human smuggler who was driving the boat.

Maritime Minister Vassilis Kikilias blamed immigrant smugglers for the deaths. Stating that the available data shows that the bow of the speedboat hit the left side of the coast guard boat, Kikilias stated that the exact cause of the incident is being investigated.

Kikilias said in his statement on his X account: "Our stance is beyond debate: Zero tolerance for smugglers."

Greece is one of the prominent routes to the European Union for immigrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The country was at the forefront of the migration crisis in Europe in 2015-2016, and approximately 1 million people reached the Greek islands, most of them via Türkiye.