Twenty-two migrants die off Greek coast after six days at sea

Twenty-two migrants have died off the Greek coast after spending six days in a dinghy bound for Europe, the Greek coastguard has said.

Twenty-six survivors, including a woman and a child, were rescued by a European border agency vessel on Friday. Two of them were taken to hospital in Heraklion on the island of Crete.

The migrant boat had left the port of Tobruk in eastern Libya on 21 March, news agency AFP reported, citing a coastguard spokesperson. Poor weather and a lack of food and water contributed to the deaths, the coastguard said.

Greece, along with Italy, receives a large number of undocumented migrants via the Mediterranean, often from nearby Turkey and northern Africa.

Many of these crossings occur in the summer, when there is less likely to be bad weather.

"During the journey, the passengers [of the dinghy] lost their orientation and remained at sea for six days without water and food," the Greek coastguard said.

The boat was eventually stopped 53 nautical miles from Ierapetra, a city on Crete's southern coastline.

Greek authorities said two men from South Sudan, aged 19 and 22, had been arrested on suspicion of people trafficking.

They are now under investigation for "illegal entry into the country" and "negligent homicide".

The coastguard said that 21 of the survivors were from Bangladesh, four were from South Sudan and another was from Chad.

At least 41,696 arrived in Greece by sea in 2025, according to the UN's refugee agency UNHCR. More than 4,000 have so far arrived this year.

But the journey can be perilous, especially in bad weather, while people smugglers often overcrowd boats without adequate supplies or lifejackets.

At least 103 people were considered dead or missing in the eastern Mediterranean in 2025, UNHCR figures show.

In December, 17 migrants were found dead inside a boat which had been taking on water and had partially submerged near the Cretan coast.