File photo.
Nearly 50 migrants came ashore on a beach on the resort island of Rhodes after being ferried across from the nearby Turkish coast in a sailing yacht, authorities said Friday.
The Coast Guard said in a statement that the captain of the vessel, a 50-year-old Egyptian national, was arrested and faces charges of migrant-smuggling.
A total 37 men, three women and six children were landed near the village of Kallithea on the southeastern Aegean Sea island Thursday, the statement said, having set off from the Turkish port of Marmaris.
Coast Guards reached the site after being alerted to the incident and took the Egyptian suspect into custody. The statement said the yacht was destroyed, but provided no further details.
