4 dead in Greece after migrant smuggler allegedly forced passengers overboard

ATHENS, Greece -- Greek authorities have recovered the bodies of four people from the sea just off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Rhodes, while another 25 people have been found alive on land after a migrant smuggler allegedly forced his passengers overboard while transferring them from Turkey to Greece, the coast guard said Wednesday.

The bodies of three men and one woman were recovered near the coast on the southern tip of Rhodes early Wednesday, the coast guard said. The group of 25 survivors were found on land, with police originally locating an initial group of 11 people shortly after midnight, and the rest found afterwards.

Survivors told authorities they had been traveling to the Greek island from the nearby Turkish coast by speedboat when the smuggler driving the vessel forced them overboard into the water and left, the coast guard said.

A search and rescue operation in the area was called off Wednesday afternoon once authorities ascertained from survivors that there were no further people missing. The nationalities of the passengers weren't immediately known.

It was the latest fatal case involving migrants trying to make their way into the European Union using the sea route either from the nearby Turkish coast or across the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Greece lies on a popular route into the European Union for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with tens of thousands heading to Greek islands, usually in smuggling boats from the nearby Turkish coast, or making the longer and more treacherous journey across the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos has said the government is seeking stricter EU migration policies and is considering creating detention facilities on the islands of Rhodes and Crete after the rate of arrivals by sea has more than doubled, starting last fall.

Just over 50,000 migrants were registered as having arrived in Greece by early November, with more than 43,000 of them arriving by sea, according to figures from the U.N. refugee agency.

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