A coast guard officer sustained a minor head injury early Friday morning after migrant smuggler’s speed boat struck a patrol boat carrying the former, during a seaborne chase off the eastern Aegean Island of Lesvos.
According to reports, while on a regular patrol the crew of the Hellenic Coast Guard vessel spotted a group of people being clandestinely offloaded from the speedboat just south of the island’s capital and main port of Mytilini, before giving chase.
The pilot of the speedboat attempted to evade and alternately ward off the patrol boat through a series of risky maneuvers, the coast guard reported, resulting in the side-by-side contact.
Authorities said two Turkish men, 25 and 31, were arrested aboard the vessel once it was stopped before reaching Turkey’s territorial waters.
A total of 30 third country nationals were later detained onshore. In their initial declarations they told Greek authorities they hailed from Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq, while some said they were Palestinians.
The entire group was transferred to a closed reception and ID center on the island.
