Teen refugee dies in smugglers’ yacht in Aegean

The body of a 15-year-old refugee was found on a large yacht following an altercation between coast guard officers and three passengers – suspected migrant traffickers – off the coast of the southern Aegean island of Symi on Saturday, the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported.

Reports were conflicting about the sequence of events that led to the boy’s death. Some sources suggested he was shot in an exchange of gunfire between the smugglers and their coast guard pursuers, with other saying the 15-year-old probably died of asphyxiation in the yacht’s hold.

The latter of these reports said that the smugglers rammed the coast guard patrol with the yacht, injuring one officer. One of the alleged smugglers was also reported to have been injured in the leg.