South of Crete: 14 dead on second boat, Reuters reports
The agency cites a revised Coast Guard toll. The eight deaths on the first boat were from a separate operation.
Update 09.11.2026 · 20:07, Athens time — What changed
Reuters reports a revised Coast Guard toll for the second boat on 9 November: 13 people were found dead and another died in hospital. ERT had reported 13 deaths in the same incident. The eight deaths on the first boat were from a separate operation. The cause of the deaths has not been established.
Updated 09.11.2026 · 13:59, Athens time — What changed
The death toll from the two boats south of Crete has risen to 21, according to the latest reports by Reuters and ERT. Reuters reported that one of the people taken to hospital after the second operation died. The initial tally for that operation was 12 bodies recovered and 18 people picked up alive.
The eight deaths from the first boat and the two arrests announced by the Coast Guard concern a separate operation. The available updates do not cover all incidents in the same way, so no combined rescue total is given here.
Previous updates — archive
Updated 09.11.2026 · 12:11, Athens time — What changed
The Heraklion Port Authority arrested two people, aged 28 and 16, in the investigation into the first boat off Kali Limenes. The Coast Guard said the case concerns, among other alleged offences, facilitating unlawful entry and exposure resulting in death. The arrests do not establish guilt.
Eight people died and 28 were rescued from the first boat. The two arrests relate to that boat. A Coast Guard official confirmed to Reuters that a separate operation recorded 12 deaths and 18 survivors. The official release about the first boat does not give a combined number of survivors across all operations.
Previous updates — archive
Updated 09.11.2026 · 09:03, Athens time — What changed
The Hellenic Coast Guard recovered 12 bodies and rescued 18 people from a second boat off Kaloi Limenes, southern Crete, early on Monday, 9 November 2026. A coast guard official told Reuters that the boat was located about 15 nautical miles off the port.
The latest incident was separate from the earlier rescue involving the tug Pyrros and the subsequent recovery of seven more bodies from the same boat. The toll in that operation remains eight dead and 28 rescued.
The coast guard told Reuters that dozens more people were rescued in two other operations. ERTnews reported that the two boats were located about 30 and 31 nautical miles south of Kaloi Limenes with help from Frontex.
Previous updates — archive
Eight people were found dead and 28 were rescued in an operation involving a boat in distress off Kaloi Limenes, southern Crete, the Hellenic Coast Guard reported on Monday, 9 November 2026. The figures refer to this specific boat.
The operation and the updated toll
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre alerted local authorities on Saturday afternoon. Shortly after midnight, the tug Pyrros located the boat about 4.5 nautical miles southwest of Kaloi Limenes. It brought aboard 28 survivors and the body of one man. Two survivors were taken to the University General Hospital of Heraklion, the coast guard said.
Weather conditions prevented immediate towing. Early on Monday, a rescue vessel found the boat about 10 nautical miles west-southwest of Kaloi Limenes, with seven more bodies on board. The bodies were taken for forensic examination.
Survivors reported that two passengers had fallen into the sea on Friday and were still missing. Their account is separate from the confirmed death toll. The Central Port Authority of Heraklion is conducting the preliminary investigation.
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