Greek coast guards open fire on migrant smuggling boat after alleged ramming, killing 1 passenger

A Greek coastal vessel and other boats search an area between Aegina and the small deserted islet of Moni, southwest of Athens, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. (Yannis Liakos/InTime News via AP)

ATHENS, Greece — The crew of a Greek coast guard vessel opened fire on a speedboat smuggling migrants -- including several children -- from neighbouring Turkiye killing one passenger, Greek authorities said Friday.

A coast guard statement said shots were fired, first into the air and then at the speedboat's engine "to avert the direct threat to the patrol boat and its crew" after the helmsman rammed the Greek patrol boat in a bid to escape arrest.

When the boat came to a halt, the statement said, the passenger was found fatally wounded, "probably by a bullet."

The remaining 13 people on the plastic speedboat -- 5 children, 7 men and a woman -- were unharmed and were taken to the southeast Aegean Sea island of Symi. The dead passenger was identified as a 39-year-old man. His nationality was not immediately known.

The statement said the incident occurred northwest of Symi after the helmsman of the smuggling boat ignored multiple calls to stop. It said he "repeatedly carried out extremely dangerous maneuvers, ramming the patrol boat."

The coast guard said the migrant smuggling vessel had been heading from the nearby Turkish coast to Symi.

Two of the men on the speedboat were arrested on suspicion of belonging to a migrant smuggling gang.

Thousands of migrants try to reach Greece's eastern Aegean islands in small boats every year. In most cases they pay smuggling rings to carry them across, and in several incidents the Greek coast guard has reported attempted rammings by smugglers seeking to escape arrest.

Greece has been roundly criticized by human rights organizations over the treatment of migrants trying to reach its shores. In June, it denied a BBC report that accused its coast guard of brutal practices resulting in dozens of deaths.

According to data from the United Nations refugee agency, nearly 30,000 migrants have arrived illegally in Greece so far this year from Turkiye, and, increasingly, from Libya in North Africa.

The number of arrivals is slightly lower than in Italy and Spain, the main destinations for migrants trying to reach Europe illegally. Most people heading for Greece are Afghan, Syrian or Egyptian nationals.