The Greek and Turkish coast guard in search of two missing people from the two unrelated accidents.
Two boats carrying refugees flowed into the narrow section of the sea between Turkiye and the Greek island of Lesbos, killing at least 16 people, according to officials from the two countries.
Boats accidents, which led around 66 people together, took place on Thursday at several hours, with the authorities on each side ignoring the rescue efforts of the other country.
On the Greek side, the country’s coast guard declared that one of his patrol boats fell on a small canoe of about five meters (5.5 meters) which took water and saved 23 people – 11 minors, eight men and four women – out of a total of 31 passengers.
The authorities then recovered the bodies of seven people – three women, two boys, a girl and a man – after a research and rescue operation which included helicopters, coast guard ships and the European border agency Frontex.
The Greek coasts said that the rescuers were still looking on Thursday evening a young girl who had been missing by survivors.
One of the survivors, identified only as a 20-year-old man, was arrested, suspected of being a passer of people after other passengers have identified him as having managed the canoe, said the coast guard.
Separately in Turkiye, the authorities of the northwest province of Canakkale said that the coast guard had received an emergency call with a boat early Thursday morning, saving 25 people after deploying three boats and a helicopter.
The press release indicates that nine bodies had been recovered and that the search for a missing person continued. The Turkish media said the survivors had been taken to Turkiye hospital.
The wrecks are very common on the short but perilous road between the Turkish coast and the Greek islands neighboring Samos, Rhodes and lesbos which serve as entry to the European Union for people fleeing conflicts and poverty.
The Greek government has reprimated itself with increased patrols at sea, and many smuggling rings have moved their operations to the south, using larger boats to transport people from the north coast of Africa to the south of Greece.
Last year, more than 54,000 people used what became known as the eastern Mediterranean, heading towards Greece, and more than 7,700 crossed the border of Greece’s little land with Turkiye, according to the United Nations.
A total of 125 people were reported dead or disappeared.
