At least 21 migrants and refugees die trying to reach Greece’s Crete

Key points

• At least 21 people died trying to reach Crete, with 12 bodies recovered from one boat on Monday.
• Eight bodies were recovered and 28 people rescued from a separate boat on Saturday evening.
• Frontex said irregular border crossings into the EU fell by a third so far this year.

At least 21 people have died while trying to reach the Greek island of Crete, authorities said. Crete is a key hub for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe.

The Greek coastguard said it recovered 12 bodies and rescued 18 people from a boat spotted by a Morocco-flagged container ship south of the island early on Monday. The survivors and the dead were taken to shore, and one person taken to hospital later died.

Cause of deaths unclear

It was not immediately clear what caused the deaths, but Greek authorities said the boat may have been at sea for days and struggled to reach shore because of strong winds.

In a separate incident, the coastguard recovered eight bodies and rescued 28 refugees and migrants from a boat off southern Crete on Saturday evening. Two people are still missing.

Crete has become one of the main entry points into the EU for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

— Al Jazeera

Other boats located

Two other boats were also found sailing south of Crete, one carrying about 47 people and another with about 40 on board. The EU border agency Frontex used an aircraft and an unmanned drone to locate the boats before survivors were taken to a port on Crete's southern coast.

Frontex said irregular border crossings into the bloc were down by a third so far this year. It said about 31,800 crossings were recorded in the first three quarters of 2026, a fall of 15 percent compared with the same period last year.