Most of the 15 Afghan illegal migrants who were killed off the Greek island of Chios last week when their dinghy collided with a coast guard vessel died of head injuries, not from drowning, autopsy results seen by Reuters show.
A criminal investigation has been opened into the February 3 collision – one of Greece’s deadliest illegal migrant accidents in years – in which a coast guard vessel collided with a dinghy carrying about 39 people, causing it to capsize.
The coast guard said the illegal migrant boat had been travelling without navigation lights and ignored warnings to stop. It said the dinghy abruptly changed course and hit the patrol vessel.
The passengers fell into the sea, it said. But testimonies from five survivors, reviewed by Reuterscontradict the official account.
