A migrant was killed by a bullet during an exchange of fire on the Evros River on the Greek-Turkish border on Saturday night. The announcement was made by Greek police on Sunday.
Greek border guards used a night vision camera to determine that a rubber dinghy was leaving the Turkish side of the river and urged occupants over loudspeakers to return to Turkey. When individual shots and then volleys were fired from the Turkish side in an unknown direction, Greek border guards took cover and fired warning shots into the air, police said.
body to be examined
Four migrants therefore managed to reach the Greek coast. Greek police discovered the body of a woman in the water of the river. She had a gunshot wound to her chest. The body must be forensically examined.
According to the police, the migrants claimed that they paid a band of smugglers in Istanbul €2,000 per person for the ticket to Greece and therefore the EU. Initially, it was unclear which countries the migrants came from.
One of the routes used by smuggling gangs to bring migrants from Turkey to Greece and therefore the EU runs along the Evros River at the border. Greek border guards and the European border protection agency Frontex are closely monitoring the region.
In addition, Greece erected mile-long border fences in many places. According to the UN refugee agency, around 1,000 migrants have crossed the border since the beginning of the year. In 2021, a good 4,800 people entered the country illegally, in 2020 it was almost 6,000.