Six migrants, including a baby, died off the Greek island of Lesbos shortly after midnight on Monday when their speedboat collided with a coast guard patrol vessel, the coast guard said.
The boat was sailing from the Turkish coast to Lesbos and capsized after the crash. It happened off Agrilia, 3.5 nautical miles from the island's south-east coast, where the patrol vessel was on duty.
Those rescued include a 37-year-old Turkish national. The coast guard identified him as the smuggler who was steering the boat, and he has been arrested.
Shipping minister Vasilis Kikilias said on X that he felt sadness and anger. He said the information available so far suggests the suspected smuggler's boat rammed its bow into the port side of the patrol vessel.
Kikilias blamed the smugglers for the deaths of the six. He called them "unscrupulous criminals who, to get rich, do not hesitate to lead desperate people, families and innocent children to their deaths".
"Zero tolerance for smugglers," Kikilias added. He said the government's stance toward migrant smuggling networks remains uncompromising.