ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A diver who helped recover bodies from a deadly collision between a boat carrying migrants and a Greek coast guard vessel said Friday that most of the 15 people who died had suffered severe head injuries, as questions mounted over the circumstances of the incident.
A search and rescue operation was still underway Friday for potentially missing people three days after the collision off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Chios. Fifteen people were killed and 26 injured, including 11 children and two coast guard officers. The total number of people on board the small speedboat remains unclear.
The large number of casualties has led to questions over how the collision occurred. Judicial authorities have launched an official inquiry.
Evaggelos Kirithras, a diver who participated in the recovery of the bodies that night, told The Associated Press that when he arrived on the scene, he saw 12 bodies lying inside a semisubmerged inflatable speedboat. The vessel had not capsized, he said.
“Most of them had head injuries. I can’t describe how bad the head injuries were,” Kirithras said, comparing the injuries to the impact of hitting a wall. The diver said he has participated in other rescue and recovery operations with the coast guard in the past, “but this was the first time I’ve seen such force.”
A report prepared by four coroners who examined the bodies indicated they had suffered severe injuries, Greek media said. The report has not been made public.
The exact circumstances of the collision remain unclear. In an initial statement, the coast guard said its patrol boat had come across the speedboat making its way toward Chios without navigation lights. It said the speedboat ignored sound and light signals to stop, and suddenly changed direction, colliding with the patrol boat and capsizing.
Photos released by the coast guard showed signs of abrasion on the patrol boat’s right side. The coast guard’s account couldn’t be independently verified.
“The pursuit, the collision, the injuries testify to a very violent incident,” said Kostas Arvanitis, a left-wing member of the European Parliament, demanding the publication of any footage from cameras on board the patrol vessel.
But authorities have said the camera on board had not been recording at the time.
Speaking in parliament Friday, Maritime Affairs Minister Vassilis Kikilias, under whose jurisdiction the coast guard lies, said the decision to not switch on the camera had been taken by the vessel’s captain because the migrant boat was already nearby and the long-range thermal imaging camera would not have worked properly.
“As I have been informed… the (camera’s) function is infrared and long-distance, so even if it had been switched on, it would not have had clear recordings of the collision event,” Kikilias said, and repeated that any judicial and administrative investigation into the incident was welcome.
All but one of the surviving passengers on board the roughly 8-meter (26-foot) speedboat have been identified as Afghans, while one Moroccan national among the injured has been arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling.
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. Many undertake the short but often perilous crossing from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in the eastern Aegean. But increased patrols and allegations of pushbacks — summary deportations without allowing for asylum applications — by Greek authorities have reduced crossing attempts.
Kantouris reported from Thessaloniki, Greece
Rescue workers and paramedics wait at the port on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, Greece, late Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, after a collision between a migrant speedboat and a coast guard patrol vessel killed multiple people. (Kostas Anagnostou/Eurokinissi via AP)
This photo provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, shows a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol vessel docked at the port of Chios after being involved in a collision with a speedboat carrying migrants off the eastern Aegean island of Chios late Tuesday. (Hellenic Coast Guard via AP)
Greek coast guard officers carry out rescue operations at a port on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, Greece, late Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, after a collision between a migrant speedboat and a coast guard patrol vessel killed multiple people, authorities said. (Pantelis Fykaris/Politischios.gr via AP)
Iran fired missiles at Israel and some Gulf nations while explosions could be heard around Tehran and the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday, as the United States prepared to further reinforce its already significant military forces in the Middle East.
As the war that began Feb. 28 was to enter its sixth week, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait warned about incoming missile fire, although it was unclear if anything was struck. Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan but it wasn’t immediately clear what was hit.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing.
Oil prices surged while Asian financial markets rose moderately during cautious trading. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks.
The largest American aircraft carrier in service sailed out of Split, in Croatia and “remains poised for full mission tasking in support of national objectives in any area of operation,” the Navy’s 6th Fleet announced.
It was unclear where it was going. The USS Abraham Lincoln remains in the Arabian Sea and the USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier departed Norfolk on Wednesday to head to the Mideast.
Here is the latest:
Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war but the Asian markets that were open Friday rose moderately in cautious trading, while others were closed for the Good Friday holidays.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.
The U.S. only relies on the Persian Gulf for a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market.
The situation is very different in Asia. Japan, for example, relies on access to the Strait of Hormuz for much of the nation’s oil import needs and would need to rely on alternative routes. But some analysts say Japan and oher nations are counting on an agreement with Iran to allow transports.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% in Friday morning trading to 52,938.62. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.1% to 5,344.41. The Shanghai Composite sank 0.5% to 3,899.57. Trading was closed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia and India.
Wall Street, where trading is closed Friday, finished its first winning week since the start of the Iran war, although trading started out with a decline driven by a surge in oil prices.
Bangladesh is curtailing office hours and enforcing early closure of malls and shops beginning Friday to handle its energy crisis related to the war.
The country’s cabinet ordered 30% spending cuts for fuel and power at government offices, suspended some staff training and stopped purchases of new vehicles, ships and aircraft. Decorative lighting will not be allowed for celebrations.
Bangladesh, a nation of more than 170 million people, is seeking alternative fuel sources and $2.5 billion in external financing for imports, which account for 95% of its fuel.
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Friday urged motorists getting away for a long weekend during the Easter holiday to fill up in cities because most of the nation’s fuel shortages are in rural areas.
Among 2,400 gas stations in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, 182 had run out of diesel by Friday.
In Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, 76 gas stations were out of diesel. In the remaining states ranked by the most populous first, Queensland had 75 stations without diesel, Western Australia had 37, South Australia had 28 and in Tasmania there were seven.
“For those Australians planning a road trip this weekend, given our shortages are predominantly in rural and regional Australia, it makes sense to fill up in the city to help the country if you can,” Bowen said in Sydney.
The government, which blamed regional shortages on panic buying and distribution problems, is concentrating on delivering fuel to farmers for planting crops.
A painting lies on the floor of a residential building damaged by recent U.S.-Israeli strikes in Fardis, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Journalists from foreign media based in Tehran document damage from U.S.-Israeli strikes in a residential area of the town of Fardis, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A newly constructed bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A newly constructed bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A man with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon sits on a bed at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
President Donald Trump arrives from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
