UN News reported that 18 people survived the incident in which 14 bodies were recovered, while 28 Sudanese migrants were rescued from another boat where 8 bodies were recovered. Several people remain missing.
At least 22 people died in two boat incidents south of Greece’s island of Crete, according to an account published by UN News on 9 November. Both boats had departed from eastern Libya before getting into distress at sea.
The account follows an earlier report that a rescued passenger died in hospital. Al Jazeera said on 9 November that the cause of the deaths was not immediately clear. Greek authorities said the boat found that Monday may have spent days at sea, struggling to reach shore because of strong winds.
| Incident | People rescued | Bodies recovered |
|---|---|---|
| Boat spotted by a cargo ship | 18 | 14 |
| Boat carrying Sudanese migrants | 28 | 8 |
The Guardian had earlier carried a Greek coastguard estimate of approximately 40 people rescued across the two boats.
Sigmalive said on 9 November that the boat found that Monday was approximately 15 nautical miles south-southwest of Kaloi Limenes. Citing the Hellenic Coast Guard, it said a Moroccan-flagged container ship spotted the boat and helped under the direction of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre. Survivors were transferred to a coastguard patrol vessel.
For the other incident, Sigmalive said the coastguard received an alert on Friday afternoon about a boat in serious difficulty approximately 6 nautical miles southwest of Kaloi Limenes. The tugboat Pyrros located the boat, rescued its surviving passengers and recovered a man’s body. Seven more bodies were found when the vessel was located again, and the boat was later taken to Kaloi Limenes.
The certificates cover about 25,000 displaced people who have acquired property in Armenia or have construction underway. A new employment program is scheduled to begin on 1 January 2027.
Northerly winds reaching 6 to 7 on the Beaufort wind-force scale made towing the boat and continuing rescue operations extremely dangerous, Sigmalive said. Survivors said 2 passengers had fallen into the sea, prompting further searches. The later UN News account described several people as missing.
Frontex, the European Union’s border agency, said in October 2026 that the eastern Mediterranean was the busiest route for migrants attempting to enter the bloc. Irregular border crossings into the European Union were down by a third that year to date.
Sigmalive said Greek authorities arrested 2 Sudanese nationals, aged 28 and 16, over the Friday incident. Other passengers alleged that the pair organized the smuggling operation. They face charges of illegal entry, facilitating illegal entry, forming a criminal group and causing death through exposure to danger.
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