Twenty-Two Migrants Die of Exhaustion After Six Days Adrift in the Mediterranean

Twenty-two migrants died of exhaustion, hunger, and thirst after drifting for six days in the Mediterranean Sea, with survivors telling the Greek coast guard that the bodies of the dead were thrown overboard on the orders of a smuggler. A Frontex vessel rescued 26 survivors — 24 men, one woman, and one minor — on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at midday, approximately 53 nautical miles south of Ierapetra, on the southern coast of Crete. The inflatable boat had departed from the Tobruk region of eastern Libya on the night of March 21 with 48 people on board, according to the Greek coast guard. Two survivors were transferred to hospital in Heraklion, the Cretan capital, following the rescue.

Two South Sudanese men arrested on homicide charges Greek authorities arrested two men identified as the smugglers responsible for the crossing: a 19-year-old and a 22-year-old, both South Sudanese nationals. The two were detained in Heraklion and face charges of illegal entry into the country and homicide by negligence, according to the Greek coast guard. Survivors told authorities that the bodies of the 22 deceased were thrown into the sea on the orders of one of the two smugglers. The coast guard stated that the passengers lost their bearings during the crossing and remained at sea for six days without food or fresh water, compounded by adverse weather conditions. Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris had previously addressed a separate incident in early February, when 15 migrants died near the island of Chios after their vessel collided with a Greek coast guard boat, stating at the time that the coast guard bore no responsibility for that accident.

Migrants paid up to 10,000 dollars for the crossing Some of the migrants aboard the vessel had paid substantial sums for the journey, according to El Mundo. Reported payments included up to 10,000 US dollars, one million Bangladeshi taka, or 12,000 Libyan dinars for passage to Greece. The route between Libya and Crete covers approximately 300 kilometers and has seen multiple incidents in recent months involving boats carrying migrants from Bangladesh and Sudan, according to the same source. The nationalities of those on board the March 21 vessel were not specified by the Greek coast guard. The crossing represents one of the central routes through which migrants attempt to reach the European Union via Greece.

The Mediterranean migration route has been one of the deadliest in the world for over a decade. In December 2025, 17 migrants were found dead inside a partly deflated boat southwest of Crete, with only two survivors recovered. In early February 2026, 15 migrants died near the island of Chios after their vessel collided with a Greek coast guard boat. The IOM began systematically collecting data on Mediterranean migrant deaths in 2014.

2026 already the deadliest year-start on record since 2014 The deaths come amid a sharp rise in Mediterranean fatalities in early 2026. According to the IOM figures cited by Frontex, at least 606 migrants died or went missing on the Mediterranean route in the first two months of 2026 alone, making it the deadliest start to a year since the organization began collecting data in 2014. RFI reported that Frontex cited IOM data showing nearly 660 deaths in January and February 2026, compared with 287 in the same period of 2025 — an increase of 128%, according to RFI. At the same time, detections of irregular crossings of EU external borders fell by 52% in January and February compared with the first two months of 2025, according to RFI, though Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris told Reuters in February 2026 that illegal arrivals in Greece fell by 21% in 2025 compared to 2024. 606 (deaths or disappearances) — migrants lost in Mediterranean in first two months of 2026

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