Eight migrants drowned Friday morning near the Greek island of Rhodes after the speedboat they were traveling in capsized, Greek authorities said.
The coast guard said the incident occurred after the speedboat made "dangerous maneuvers" in an attempt to escape a patrol vessel, throwing the migrants into the water.
Greek authorities said that 18 other migrants were rescued and that the search for the rescue of other migrants is ongoing. It is not clear how many migrants the ship was carrying when it capsized, they said.
Rhodes, one of several large Greek islands off the coast of Turkey, is a busy migrant-trafficking route in the eastern Mediterranean.
This is the second deadly incident involving immigrants on the island this week.
Seven migrants died and dozens more are believed to be missing when their boat partially sank south of the island of Crete last weekend.
The number of immigrants going to Greece illegally is expected to increase to 60,000 this year.
Syrians make up the largest number of them, followed by Afghans, Egyptians, Eritreans and Palestinians, according to government data./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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