A Frontex patrol boat carrying five people capsized off Kastellorizo, Greece, and sank on Monday, the Greek coast guard said.
The coast guard said four injured people were airlifted to a hospital on Rhodes. The five people were rescued by a Greek coast guard boat and a passing sailboat, then transported to Kastellorizo.
The Greek coast guard said the patrol boat sank after capsizing off the eastern Aegean island of Kastellorizo, Greece’s easternmost island. It did not provide a reason for the sinking.
AP reported that the five people on board included four Estonians, including the Estonian ambassador to Greece, as well as one Greek Frontex liaison officer.
The coast guard did not specify whether the ambassador was among the four injured people airlifted to Rhodes.
The incident follows a similar Frontex-related accident reported last July. AP said a Frontex patrol boat operated by the Portuguese Maritime Police sank off Lesbos during a search and rescue operation involving a boat carrying migrants, and that there were no injuries reported from that incident.
Greece is one of the main entry routes into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Frontex has been deployed in Greece for years, with vessels and personnel working alongside Greece’s coast guard and border patrol guards.