At least 13 people died after a ship carrying migrants sank on the shores of the Greek island of Crete, reports the BBC.
Coast Guard said he had saved 18 people, all Sudanese citizens. Four of the survivors were taken to the hospital, including a small child.
Authorities said it was not yet known what caused the deaths, but believe that the ship had been at sea for several days and had had had difficulty reaching shore because of strong winds.
Crete remains one of several main gates for migrants trying to reach Europe from the Middle East and North Africa. More than 22 thousand out of 86 thousand and 400 people who have arrived by sea so far this year have landed only in Crete.
An unidentified coast guard official, who spoke of the Reuters news agency under anonymity, said survivors were shivering from the cold.
The immigrant ship was spotted by a container ship with a gold flag, about 15 nautical miles (28 km) off the coast of Crete.
The Greek coastal guard saved another 187 persons in three separate incidents on Greece’s coast on Monday.
According to UN data, more than 37 thousand migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year, already exceeding the number they reached throughout 2025.
The Greek government has announced plans to confront the influx, including the opening of a temporary residential complex near the capital of Crete, Heraklion.
Greece was the focus of the migration crisis in Europe in 2015-2016, when nearly a million people arrived in its islands, mainly from Turkey.
The number of arrivals later dropped after strengthening border controls, but crossings from Libya have increased significantly in recent years, especially by people fleeing the conflict in Sudan and seeking better economic opportunities, including those from countries like Bangladesh.
Source Layer: Insander