Greece: 22 dead, dozens missing, after 2 migrant ships sink

A local resident stands on a cliff as bodies of migrants are seen next floating debris after a sailboat carrying migrants smashed into rocks and sank off the island of Kythira, southern Greece, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Residents of a Greek island pulled shipwrecked migrants to safety up steep cliffs in dramatic rescues after two boats sank in Greek waters, leaving at least 21 people dead and many still missing. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) A local resident stands on a cliff as bodies of migrants are seen next floating debris after a sailboat carrying migrants smashed into rocks and sank off the island of Kythira, southern Greece, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Residents of a Greek island pulled shipwrecked migrants to safety up steep cliffs in dramatic rescues after two boats sank in Greek waters, leaving at least 21 people dead and many still missing. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

By THANASSIS STAVRAKIS and SRDJAN NEDELJKOVIC / Associated Press October 6, 2022 4 min read

KYTHIRA, Greece (AP) — Bodies floated amid splintered wreckage in the wind-tossed waters off a Greek island Thursday as the death toll from the separate sinkings of two migrant boats rose to 22, with many still missing.

The vessels went down hundreds of miles apart, in one case prompting a dramatic overnight rescue effort as island residents and firefighters pulled shipwrecked migrants to safety up steep cliffs.

The shipwrecks further stoked tension between neighbors Greece and Turkey, who are locked in a heated dispute over maritime boundaries and migration.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis voiced “deep sorrow for the tragic loss of life,” and praised rescuers’ “heroic” efforts.

“This is a time to really cooperate much more substantially in order to avoid these types of incidents occurring in the future and to completely eradicate the smugglers who prey upon innocent people” trying to reach Europe in unseaworthy boats, Mitsotakis added.