At least 13 dead as migrant boat sinks off Crete
At least 13 people died after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Crete, a Greek island, according to BBC News. The Greek coastguard, the state service that patrols the country's waters and carries out sea rescues, pulled 18 people from the sea. All 18 survivors were Sudanese nationals. Four of them, including a toddler, were taken to hospital.
Authorities believe the boat had been at sea for days and struggled to reach land because of strong winds. It was spotted about 15 nautical miles (28km) off Crete's coast. A nautical mile is a unit of distance used at sea, roughly 1.85km. A Moroccan-flagged container ship, a cargo vessel registered in Morocco, was the vessel that spotted the migrants' boat.
On Monday, the coastguard also rescued 187 people in three separate incidents elsewhere off Greece.
Crete has become one of the main points of arrival for people crossing the Mediterranean by sea. More than 22,000 of the 86,400 sea arrivals so far this year have landed on the island. UN figures show that more than 37,000 migrants have arrived in Greece this year, a number that already exceeds the total for 2025.
Greece plans to open a temporary housing complex near Heraklion, the capital of Crete, to accommodate arrivals. The plan has been announced, and the complex is not yet open.
