Greece recovers bodies of eight migrants after collision off Rhodes

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece has recovered the bodies of eight migrants who fell into the sea after their speedboat collided with a coastguard boat pursuing it off the island of Rhodes on Friday, the coastguard said.

So far 18 people, among them two children and three women, have been rescued, the coastguard said in a statement. Eight people were injured during the incident including a woman who was severely hurt, said a coastguard official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Most the migrants on the boat were from Afghanistan. Two people, both Turkish nationals, have been arrested on human trafficking accusations.

The migrant boat, sailing at high speed, collided with the coastguard vessel as it manoeuvred while trying to evade the officers pursuing it, said another coastguard official.

Greece, at the southern tip of the European Union, has long been a favoured gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 2015 nearly 1 million people landed on its islands.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Yannis Souliotis; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Cawthorne)

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