Representational image only. File
| Photo Credit: AFP
“Twelve migrants died on Monday (October 19, 2026) attempting to cross the Aegean Sea, including six people whose bodies were found after their boat collided with a police vessel,” authorities said.
“A baby and four women were among six people who died off the island of Lesbos on Monday (October 19, 2026) following the collision,” a coast guard official told AFP.
“The other six dead — five men and a woman — were on a small boat that capsized off the island of Samos,” the coast guard added. Another 14 people from the boat, one of them a presumed Iranian organiser, were rescued.
The coast guard official said that in the incident off Lesbos, “a speed boat carrying migrants collided with the port side of a police patrol vessel”. The official said eight people were rescued. The Aegean is a much-used route for migrants crossing from Turkey and hoping to reach Europe. There have been many deaths.
One person died and 25 remained missing after a boat filled with migrants sank off the island of Gavdos, near Crete in September.
Published – October 19, 2026 01:40 pm IST
