A Greek coast guard boat collided with a migrant speedboat off the island of Chios on Tuesday, leaving many people dead or injured.

The Coast Guard said that the bodies of 14 people — 11 men and three women — were recovered from the sea. One of the injured women later died in hospital, bringing the death toll to at least 15.

Hospital officials said that 24 people, 11 of them aged 15 or under, were admitted in the aftermath. Three of them remained in a serious condition on Wednesday, hospital director Christos Tsiahris told Greek newspaper Proto Thema.

A search-and-rescue operation involving patrol boats, a helicopter, and divers continued into Wednesday to find potentially missing individuals.

What do we know about the collision?

A boat carrying dozens of migrants was traveling from Turkey toward the coast of Chios. A Greek coast guard patrol reportedly spotted the boat and ordered it to change course.

ERT, the public broadcaster, said the patrol issued a warning signal after spotting the migrant boat, which then tried to escape.

Two coast guard officers were also injured in the collision, with one still hospitalized on Wednesday, according to authorities.

The coast guard said preliminary investigations suggested that most of the passngers on the boat were originally from Afghanistan.

"Our sorrow for the loss of 15 human lives in Chios is unspeakable," Maritime Affairs Minister Vassilis Kikilias said. "Modern-day smugglers, traffickers are the enemy of the country. They put human lives in mortal danger, both of those unfortunate people and of the members of the coast guard." 

Kikilias said that an investigation would be carried out "with transparency and professionalism." 

Perils of Mediterranean migrant route

A significant number of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia attempt to cross into the European Union through Greece.

Many of these individuals undertake the short but often perilous crossing from the Turkish coast to the nearby Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), approximately 1,000 migrants have made the crossing since the beginning of this year.

However, fatal accidents are common. According to the International Organization for Migration, about 33,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.

Edited by: Rana Taha