Twelve migrants died in two separate speedboat capsizings off the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos on Monday, October 1...

Twelve migrants died in two separate speedboat capsizings off the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos on Monday, October 19, with an infant among the dead. Two suspected people smugglers were arrested, one Turkish and one Iranian. The first incident happened south of Lesbos near Agrilia, where a speedboat carrying Syrian and Palestinian migrants struck the port side of a Greek coast guard vessel during a pursuit and capsized. Six people died, including four men, one woman, and an infant. Eight survivors, including two children, were taken to Vostanio Hospital in Mytilene. A 37-year-old Turkish national was arrested as the suspected operator. The second capsizing occurred north of Samos, where a speedboat that coast guard detected travelling at high speed through Turkish territorial waters went down after a sharp maneuver. Five men and one woman died. Fourteen men were rescued, and an Iranian national was arrested as the suspected smuggler. A coast guard vessel and a helicopter continued searching for three passengers still missing as of Monday. Greece's Maritime Affairs Minister Vassilis Kikilias posted on X calling the Lesbos deaths a "criminal act of modern-day slave traders." He said the government's position is zero tolerance for people smugglers. According to the EU border agency Frontex, around 31,800 irregular crossings into the EU were recorded in the first three quarters of 2026 on the eastern Mediterranean route, a 15% drop from the same period last year. The corridor from Libya to Crete was the busiest section, followed by the eastern Aegean islands and the land border with Turkey. Greece remains one of the main entry points into the EU for migrants making the short but deadly crossing from the Turkish coast. #Migration #Lesbos #Samos