Maritime authorities in Greece and Senegal recovered at least 61 bodies across multiple maritime incidents over the weekend and on Monday, while bringing dozens of survivors to safety.
Off the southern coast of Crete, the Hellenic Coast Guard discovered 13 bodies aboard a vessel carrying migrants on Monday, and one person among 18 survivors died later at a local medical clinic, bringing that vessel's death toll to 14. Greek authorities stated that the identities, nationalities, and causes of death for those 14 individuals have not yet been determined.
A day earlier, Greek emergency teams located eight bodies on a second boat off Crete, rescuing 28 Sudanese survivors who were transferred from a nearby vessel and taken to the island by maritime police. That rescue operation began late Saturday following an alarm signal sent during high winds and rough waters. Greek authorities took two Sudanese nationals, including a 16-year-old, into custody after survivors identified them as suspected human smugglers.
Along West Africa's Atlantic coast, the death toll from a capsized wooden vessel reached 39 on Monday as Senegalese emergency responders located additional remains off Kébémer, north of Dakar. The wooden canoe had departed Saint-Louis in northern Senegal bound for Spain before overturning on Sunday, leaving a single known survivor while other passengers remain missing.
Greek officials also reported intercepting more than 180 migrants travelling from North Africa toward Crete across three vessels on Monday morning. European Union border surveillance aircraft and drones operated by Frontex located the three boats carrying approximately 47, 40, and 100 passengers for transit to Crete.
