Boat accidents off Crete kill at least 20 migrants

At least 20 migrants died in four boat incidents south of Crete over the weekend, Swiss broadcaster SRF reported. A total of 133 people have been rescued and at least two remain missing, as search and rescue operations continue.

In the first incident, on Saturday evening a few nautical miles from Kali Limenes, a coastal town in southern Crete, the Greek coast guard rescued 28 Sudanese people and recovered eight bodies. Two people are still missing. Survivors said the group had set off from Libya days earlier and paid between 1,000 and 2,500 euros for the journey. Two men, aged 16 and 28, were arrested on suspicion of people smuggling.

In the same region, the crew of a passing container ship spotted another migrant boat and alerted authorities. A coast guard patrol boat rescued 18 people and recovered 12 bodies. Greek media said there was no information yet about the passengers’ nationalities or where they had departed from.

In two further operations, 87 people were rescued from boats spotted by aerial surveillance operated by Frontex, the EU border agency. One boat carried 47 people and the other 40. Frontex personnel took the passengers aboard and brought them to Kali Limenes.

Although arrivals in Greece have fallen overall in 2026 compared with last year, they have risen sharply on Crete. More people are setting off from Libya, which is about 350 kilometres from the island in a straight line. The UN refugee agency UNHCR says nearly two-thirds of arrivals are from Sudan and Bangladesh.

As of November 1, more than 22,500 people had arrived on Crete this year, already exceeding the roughly 20,200 recorded during all of last year. Across Greece, UNHCR reported about 37,500 arrivals so far this year, compared with 42,000 for all of 2025.