Two arrested from sailboat in distress with 70 aboard

Two people were arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling and endangering lives for steering a sailboat carrying 68 others that ran into trouble off Greece’s western coast last week, the coast guard said Tuesday.

The coast guard said the two – an Iraqi and a Syrian – appeared before a prosecutor in southern Greece and were remanded in custody pending trial.

Separately in northern Greece, police said one young Pakistani migrant was killed and two others injured after being hit by a freight train as they walked along train tracks heading toward the border with North Macedonia.

The sailboat had set out from Turkey and was heading to Italy when it ran into trouble off western Greece last Thursday, the coast guard said. Those on board were from Iran, Syria and Iraq, and included 52 men, nine women and nine children.

A search and rescue operation was launched and the sailboat was escorted safely to the southwestern Greek port of Pylos on Friday. Authorities did not confirm this incident until Tuesday. [AP]