At least 21 migrants and refugees die trying to reach Greece’s Crete

Greece’s coastguard said more than 100 people rescued in several operations off the southern coast of Crete.At least 21 people have died while trying to reach the Greek island of Crete, a key hub for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe, authorities said.The Greek coastguard said it recovered 12 bodies and rescued 18 people from one boat that was spotted by a Morocco-flagged container ship south of the island early on Monday. It said it had taken the survivors and the dead to shore. One person taken to hospital later died.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Five killed, dozens more feared dead in boat adrift off Canary Islandslist 2 of 3At least one dead, 25 missing after boat carrying migrants sinks off Greecelist 3 of 3Migrant crossings to Europe by sea drop sharply amid heightened risks: IOMend of listIt was not immediately clear what had caused the deaths but Greek authorities said the boat may have been at sea for days, struggling to reach the shore due to strong winds.In a separate incident, the Greek coastguard recovered eight bodies and rescued 28 refugees and migrants from a boat off southern Crete on Saturday evening. Two people are still missing.Two other boats, one carrying about 47 people and another with about 40 people on board, were also found sailing south of Crete.The European Union’s border agency Frontex used an aircraft and an unmanned drone to locate the boats, before taking survivors to a port on the southern coast of Crete.Migrants arrive at their temporary encampment on the port of Heraklion, on the island of Crete, Greece after being rescued at sea November 2, 2026 [Stefanos Rapanis/Reuters]Crete has become one of the main entry points into the EU for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.Frontex said irregular border crossings into the bloc were down by a third so far this year.The agency said that about 31,800 crossings were recorded in the first three quarters of 2026, a fall of 15 percent compared with the same period last year.