On 3 February 2026, an inflatable speedboat carrying migrants collided with a patrol boat of the Greek coast guard off the island of Chios, resulting in the death of at least 15 people. 25 migrants were rescued, including 11 minors, with one injured woman later succumbing to her wounds. Two pregnant women had miscarriages. All the 15 confirmed fatalities were caused by severe head trauma, not drowning, while the number of missing passengers remains unknown. Two members of the Greek coast guard were lightly injured. All survivors from the speedboat were Afghan nationals, except a Moroccan man who was arrested on charges of smuggling.^[1][2][3][4]

There have been conflicting accounts of the collision with the Greek coast guard stating that the speedboat had its lights switched off and ignored signals to stop, with a pursuit ensuing and leading to the speedboat ramming the patrol boat on the side.^[5][6][7] Passengers disputed this account, saying the patrol boat ran over the inflatable.^[8]

With a history of pushbacks,^{[9][10][11][12]} the Greek authorities were criticized for the handling of the operation, with questions arising about the claimed speed of the inflatable, the patrol boat camera being off at the time of the incident and the likelihood of 15 deaths by severe head injury being consistent with the damage shown on the patrol boat in later photographs.^[13][14] Government officials stood behind the coast guard, dismissing allegations of pushbacks, assigning the blame to smugglers and stating "we will continue to defend our borders".^[15][16]

• 2023 Pylos migrant boat disaster