Thirteen migrants found dead on a boat off Crete, with 18 survivors rescued, the Greek coast guard says
Greece's coast guard said it retrieved 13 dead migrants and 18 survivors from a boat spotted by a container ship off Crete early on Monday, about 15 nautical miles off the port of Kaloi Limenes. Twelve bodies were found on the boat, and a thirteenth person died in hospital. The coast guard said the boat may have been at sea for days in strong winds, and it was not immediately clear how the people died. In three other incidents off Crete on Monday, the coast guard rescued another 187 people.
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Key points
- Thirteen dead and 18 survivors were taken from a boat found off Crete on Monday, the coast guard said.
- Twelve bodies were found on the boat, 15 nautical miles off Kaloi Limenes; a thirteenth person died in hospital.
- How they died is not yet established; the coast guard said the boat may have been at sea for days in strong winds.
- Another 187 people were rescued in three other incidents off Crete the same day.
What happened
Crete's south coast has become one of the main landing points for boats crossing from Libya — a far longer and more exposed crossing than the short hop from Türkiye to Greece's eastern islands, which was the front line of the 2015–2016 migration crisis. Athens has since bolstered its patrols, and total arrivals have fallen from that peak, but the Libya–Crete route has grown.
Monday's boat was found by a passing merchant ship, not by a patrol: a Morocco-flagged container ship raised the alarm, and the coast guard brought the survivors and the dead in to Agia Galini.
Claim by claim
Why this label: The coast guard's account as reported by Reuters, whose first report counted the 12 found on the boat and whose updated report gives 13 including the hospital death. Both sizes of the count are the same incident at different hours.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The details are the coast guard's, given to Reuters, including an official's account of the survivors' condition. The cause of the deaths had not been established when this was published.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The rescues are the coast guard's figures as reported by Reuters; the Associated Press reported two of the other boats carried 47 and 40 people.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (2 more)
Why this label: AFP's running total as reported on Monday. It uses the first count of 12 for Monday's boat; with the hospital death that boat's toll is 13, so the multi-day total on the same basis would be 21 — an updated combined figure had not been issued when this was published.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The route pattern is Reuters' reporting; the 1,700 figure is the minister's own statement, as reported by the Associated Press.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The coast guard's counts: 13 dead and 18 survivors from Monday's boat, and 187 people rescued in three other incidents the same day.
- That the boat was spotted by a container ship 15 nautical miles off Kaloi Limenes, and that four survivors, including a toddler, were taken to hospital.
What we don't know yet
- How the 13 people died — the coast guard said it was not immediately clear.
- The identities and nationalities of those who died, and how many people were aboard in total.
- An updated combined death toll for the past few days on one consistent basis — AFP's 20 used Monday's first count of 12.
Why it matters
Thirteen people died on a boat that reached within 15 nautical miles of shore, in a week when more than 1,700 people arrived on the same route in three days. Until the cause of these deaths is established — exposure, thirst, or something else — the number that matters most, how long the boat was at sea, is also the number no one has yet given.
Background
Show the background timeline (5)
Greece is the front line of Europe's migration crisis; nearly a million people land on its islands, mainly from Türkiye.
Arrivals from Libya to Crete surge, mostly people fleeing the conflicts in Sudan and Bangladesh.
1,700 people arrive from Libya in three days, the migration minister says.
Eight migrants die in a separate boat incident off Crete, AFP reports.
A container ship finds Monday's boat off Kaloi Limenes: 13 dead, 18 survivors; 187 more people are rescued in three other incidents.
Update history
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Published in Checking state — how the 13 people died has not yet been established, and their identities have not been released.