A serious incident occurred off the coast of Chios on Friday morning involving a migrant boat attempting to approach the island. The boat, carrying migrants, was spotted by the Coast Guard, which promptly dispatched a vessel to the scene. Shots were fired from the migrants’ speedboat toward the Coast Guard vessel, prompting the coast guards to respond with warning shots into the air.

Video footage from inside the migrants’ boat, published by “Ef.Syn,” shows a person, presumably the smuggler, pointing a gun at the Coast Guard vessel and firing.

Despite their efforts, the vessel was unable to reach land and subsequently headed towards Turkish waters.

Coast Guard Announcement:

This morning, a patrol boat from the Hellenic Coast Guard (LS-EL.AKT) was alerted that a high-speed (T/X) boat, carrying foreign nationals, was east of the island of Panagia and headed towards Chios.

Upon locating the T/X vessel, the patrol boat issued warning sound signals, which the vessel ignored, continuing to perform dangerous maneuvers.

A chase ensued, during which the speedboat operator fired shots. The patrol boat crew responded by firing two warning shots into a safe area. A second patrol boat also arrived to assist. Consequently, the T/X vessel with the foreign passengers on board retreated towards the Turkish coast.