Via Keep Talking Greece – A 10-year-old Afghan boy with disabilities was found dead in a boat carrying 66 migrants from Turkey to the island of Lesvos. The migrant boat was stopped by a Bulgarian Frontex vessel within the Greek territorial waters off Lesvos on Saturday morning. According to the parents, the boy was trampled by other passengers during the evacuation by the Frontex vessel.
According to what has been known so far, a Frontex vessel from Bulgaria spotted and approached the migrant boat.
For some “unknown” reason panic broke out among the migrants. Suggestion have it that they thought the Frontex boat was a Turkish Coast Guard vessel that would force them back.
When the Frontex vessel managed to approach the boat, the crew found the Afghan boy in “unconscious” condition.
A smaller Frontex speedboat brought the boy to the port of Mytilene and to the local hospital [where] he died. The boy had signs of asphyxiation.
On board of the migrant boat were also the boy’s parents and his two younger sisters.
The Frontex vessel took the 66 migrants to the port of Lesvos.
When the mother heard that her son [had] died she jumped into the sea in an attempt to put an end to her own life. She was rescued by the Greek Coast Guard.
In their first statement, the boy’s parents claimed that their child was trampled by the other passengers who were in panic and were trying to climb to the Bulgarian Frontex vessel.
P.s. I want to believe that someone -like the Frontex and the Greek Coast Guard- is investigating the issue.
This article was published by Keep Talking Greece