SPEEDBOAT COLLISION KILLS SIX OFF LESBOS

Greek authorities said six people, including an infant, died when a speedboat carrying people from Turkey collided with a coast guard vessel off Lesbos early on Monday. The coast guard identified the dead as four men, one woman and the infant. It said eight people survived and were taken to hospital. Officials arrested a Turkish national whom they identified as the suspected operator and smuggler. Accounts place the collision south of Agrilia, but give the distance as either 3.5 miles or 3.5 nautical miles.

The coast guard said the speedboat changed course abruptly while its patrol vessel pursued it. The boats collided, and several passengers fell into the sea, according to the coast guard. Greece’s shipping minister, Vassilis Kikilias, said initial evidence indicated that the speedboat’s bow struck the patrol vessel’s left side. The speedboat overturned after the collision, according to the authorities.

Kikilias blamed people traffickers for the deaths and wrote on X: “Our position is non-negotiable: zero tolerance for smugglers.” He said investigators were examining the exact circumstances of the collision. The Aegean islands formed a route into Europe for close to a million people in 2015. At least 15 people died in another collision involving a migrant speedboat and a Greek coast guard vessel in February.