The Greek coast guard carried out a rescue of 38 people from a boat south of Lesbos on Tuesday (October 17). One man on board was unconscious and was pronounced dead at the hospital in Mytilini, the news site Efsyn reported. 

In another rescue operation, a woman who was among a group of 47 people in a dinghy northwest of Samos was found dead. Her body was taken to the general hospital on Samos for autopsy. According to Kathimerini news online, the survivors reported that the driver of the dinghy had fallen into the sea while attempting to escape and is still missing.

The migrants – who included many children – were taken to the port of Vathy and then transferred to the island's closed reception center. The centers on the five Greek islands accommodating asylum seekers – Lesbos, Leros, Samos, Kos and Chios – are full, following the arrival of increasing numbers of migrants in recent months.

The nationalities of the migrants, including the deceased, were not reported. According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, nearly a quarter of those arriving in Greece this year were Palestinians (22%), followed by people from Afghanistan (13%) and Somalia (11%).

Also read: Greece will continue 'strict but fair' migration policy, Mitsotakis tells UN

New accusations of Greek coast guard 'pushback'

The deaths of the two people reported on Tuesday come after three people reportedly drowned when their boat capsized north of the island of Symi on October 15. They had been among a group of 13 people who had been trying to reach Greece from Turkey. Eight others were rescued and two people remained missing.

The Norwegian NGO Aegean Boat Report (ABR), which was in contact with the migrants on board, said on the social media platform X on Monday (October 16) that the migrants were Syrian nationals.

ABR also said Monday that it had further evidence that Greece is conducting illegal pushbacks of migrants in the Aegean Sea. The group published a video showing what it claimed were members of the Greek coast guard pushing migrants back towards Turkish waters. The NGO said 47 Afghans had been on board a dinghy sailing near Lesbos on October 6 when they were stopped by a coast guard patrol vessel and "let adrift close to Turkish waters," according to a report by euronews. Greek authorities have denied any involvement in pushbacks of migrants at sea.

Also read: Greece: Reported pushbacks despite intervention of European court