One person died and 25 remained missing after a boat filled with migrants sank off the Greek island of Gavdos, near Crete, the Greek coast guard said, AFP reports.

A coastguard spokesman added that according to those plucked from the sea, 77 people were on board the boat when it went down.

The Greek coast guard rescued 51 people from the sea.

According to the UN, more than 22,000 illegal migrants from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa have entered Greece since the start of 2026, compared with around 49,000 recorded in all of 2025. About half of them arrived from Libya and disembarked in Crete. Many of them have announced that they want to move from Greece to other European countries.