A migrant has died after a huge search and rescue operation sparked panic in the Aegean Sea near the Greek island of Samos.
The terrifying incident happened after people smugglers driving a speedboat from Turkey forced their passengers – including eight children – into the water so the could avoid detection by marine patrols, according to Greek authorities.
A further 30 migrants were unhurt, according to the coast guard, with 27 of them swimming ashore to the nearby island, which is separated from Turkey by the mile-wide Mycale Strait.
The boat was stopped following a chase after the coast guard fired warning gunshots which did not result in any injuries.
Two Turkish men on the vessel that had been heading back to Turkey were arrested and charged with migrant smuggling and actions that led to the loss of life.
Tragically, a body of a man was later found near three migrants who were located alive and well in the water after a huge search and rescue operation. No one else was reported missing.
Greece is a major entry point for people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia seeking a better life in Europe.
Most enter by sea from nearby Turkey, with the help of smuggling gangs that charge thousands of pounds per person for the passage.
Following increased policing of Greece’s eastern Aegean waters, smugglers have for months been using high-powered speedboats to try to dodge patrols.
This has led to a series of confrontations in which speedboats rammed coast guard vessels, and in one case a migrant was fatally shot as coast guards opened fire on a smuggling boat.
Alternatively, smugglers cram dozens of migrants into sailing yachts that try to circumvent patrols by heading through the central Aegean Sea toward Italy.
