ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Two men found alive among 17 dead bodies in a partially sunken migrant boat south of the island of Crete over the weekend told Greek authorities the vessel had been carrying a total of 34 people, and that 15 had fallen overboard and were missing, Greece’s coast guard said Monday.
A search and rescue operation was underway, the coast guard said, but strong winds and rough seas have been hampering efforts.
On Saturday, the coast guard said a passing Turkish merchant vessel had come across the half-sunken migrant boat 36 nautical miles (41 miles, 66 kilometers) southwest of the town of Ierapetra in southern Crete. Seventeen of the passengers on board, all men, were already dead, and there were only two survivors, the coast guard said, revising its initial count of 18 bodies.
The survivors, both from Egypt, were transported to a hospital in Crete, and the bodies were taken to a morgue on the island for autopsies, the coast guard said.
The survivors later told authorities there had been a total of 34 people from Egypt, South Sudan and Sudan on board the vessel, which had set sail from Tobruk in Libya on the night of Dec. 1. The boat suffered engine failure the following day and began to drift. Fifteen of those on board fell into the water and went missing, authorities said.
Separately, the coast guard said the body of a boy was found along with 37 survivors from Syria and Afghanistan who had been transported to the eastern Aegean island of Samos on board a migrant smuggling speedboat Monday. The speedboat was later found run aground in a nearby cove, while the smuggler evaded capture, the coast guard said.
Greece is a major entry point into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Fatal accidents are a common occurrence. The preferred route used to be the short but often perilous crossing from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands. But increased patrols and allegations of pushbacks — summary deportations without allowing for asylum applications — by Greek authorities reduced crossing attempts.
Instead, many migrants are undertaking the much longer sea crossing across the Mediterranean from North Africa, particularly from Libya, using roughly made wooden boats, large inflatable dinghies or old dilapidated fishing vessels.
FILE - Migrants rescued south of Crete wait to be registered on their arrival at the the port of Lavrio, Greece, on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, file)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Enraged farmers protesting delays in the payment of subsidies swarmed onto the apron area of the international airport on the southern Greek island of Crete on Monday, managing to evade riot police who used tear gas and stun grenades to keep them back.
Images from local media showed dozens of farmers standing on the apron at the Nikos Kazantzakis international airport in Heraklion, the main town in Crete, forcing the airport to suspend all flights.
Clashes also broke out near the airport of Crete’s second-largest city, Chania, with riot police using tear gas to disperse protesting farmers who pelted them with rocks and overturned a police patrol car, local media reported. Two people were reportedly injured in Chania.
The clashes in Crete are the latest escalation in farmer protests over delays in the payment of European Union-backed agricultural subsidies in the wake of a scandal which revealed fraudulent subsidy claims.
Irate farmers have deployed thousands of tractors and other agricultural vehicles at border crossings and key points along highways across the country, periodically stopping traffic and threatening to completely blockade roads, as well as ports and airports.
On Friday, riot police fired tear gas at protesting farmers attempting to block the main access road to the international airport outside the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.
Police have been enforcing traffic diversions in several parts of northern and central Greece to skirt the blockades, while farmer roadblocks at the country’s northern borders with Bulgaria, Turkey and North Macedonia have already hampered truck traffic, causing long backup lines of freight vehicles.
The payment delays have come as authorities review all requests following revelations of widespread fraudulent claims for EU farm subsidies. Protesters have argued that the delays amount to collective punishment, leaving honest farmers in debt and unable to plant their fields for next season. Greece’s farming sector has also been hit this year by an outbreak of goat and sheep pox that led to a mass cull of livestock.
Michalis Chrisochoidis, the minister for public order, said last week that the government remained open to talks with protest leaders, but warned that it wouldn’t tolerate the shutdown of major transit points.
Protests by farmers are common in Greece, and similar blockades in the past have sometimes severed all road traffic between the north and south of the country for weeks.
The subsidy scandal prompted the resignation of five senior government officials in June, and the phased shutdown of a state agency that handled agricultural subsidies. Dozens of people have been arrested for allegedly filing false claims, in response to an investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The independent EU body dealing with financial crime said at the end of October that the investigation was linked to “a systematic large-scale subsidy fraud scheme and money-laundering activities.”
Farmers overturn a police vehicle during clashes with officers blocking their march to Chania's airport on Crete, Greece, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, amid protests over delayed EU farm subsidies. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
Police use tear gas against farmers during clashes with officers blocking their march to Chania's airport on Crete, Greece, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, amid protests over delayed EU farm subsidies. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
Farmers throw stones at police during clashes with officers blocking their march to Chania's airport on Crete, Greece, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, amid protests over delayed EU farm subsidies. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
A injured police officer stands next to a police bus during clashes with officers blocking their march to Chania's airport on Crete, Greece, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, amid protests over delayed EU farm subsidies. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
Farmers gather next to an overturned police vehicle during clashes with officers blocking their march to Chania's airport on Crete, Greece, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, amid protests over delayed EU farm subsidies. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
