The Greek Coast Guard and the European border control agency Frontex carried out four search-and-rescue operations within hours on Thursday morning, south of Crete and Gavdos, rescuing a total of 202 migrants from boats in separate maritime areas.
In the first incident, a Fronext aircraft spotted an inflatable boat 53 nautical miles south-southwest of Ierapetra. A Coast Guard patrol vessel rescued 44 people, who were being transferred to Kaloi Limenes.
Shortly afterward, another 60 migrants were rescued from a boat 37 nautical miles south of Kaloi Limenes and taken to the same port.
In a third operation, a Frontex vessel rescued 35 people from a boat 30 nautical miles south of Gavdos, while a fourth operation involved the rescue of 63 migrants from a vessel 16 nautical miles south of the island.
Authorities said all operations were completed safely and registration procedures were underway.
