The coast guard on Greece’s eastern island of Mytilini (Lesvos) said the bodies of 16 young African women, a man and a boy were recovered after a dinghy carrying about 40 people sank.

Fifteen migrants (11 men and 4 women) of African origin found wandering in Mytilini on Thursday were part of a migrant boat that sank off Mytilini earlier in the day, said the UN Refugee Agency in Greece.

The migrant boat sank near Petalidi. Of the 43 passengers so far known, the toll of the dead rose to 18 following the recovery of two more bodies midday on Thursday. The bodies recovered so far belong to 16 women, a 15-year-old boy, and an adult male.

The 25 people (14 men, 11 women) rescued in total at Mytilini include a woman found alive later in the day and were transferred to the Mytilini hospital.

Alternate Health Minister Mina Gaga visited the rescued individuals at the hospital and in statements later expressed her sorrow for the victims and said survivors are well and are receiving the necessary healthcare, while rescued women were asking about the fate of their siblings.

The second rescue effort was launched several hundred kilometres to the southwest, off the island of Kythira, where a sailboat struck rocks and sank.

The death toll from the separate shipwrecks of two migrant boats rose to 22, with many still missing.

The vessels went down hundreds of kilometres apart, Kathimerini reported, in one case prompting a dramatic overnight rescue effort as island residents and firefighters pulled shipwrecked migrants to safety up steep cliffs.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said “deep sorrow for the tragic loss of life,” and praised rescuers’ “heroic” efforts.

“This is a time to really cooperate much more substantially in order to avoid these types of incidents occurring in the future and to completely eradicate the smugglers who prey upon innocent people trying to reach Europe in unseaworthy boats,” Mitsotakis added.

“The women who were rescued were in a full state of panic so we are still trying to work out what happened,” coast guard spokesman Nikos Kokkalas told Greek state television ERT. “The women were all from African countries, aged 20 upward. … There is a search on land as well as at sea, and we hope that survivors made it to land.”

Officials said that 80 people, from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, had been rescued while a search continues for as many as 11 still believed to be missing.

Meanwhile on Kythira, with winds in the area reaching 70 kilometres per hour overnight, survivors clinging to ropes were pulled to safety up steep cliffs as others were hit by waves while waiting to be rescued.

“All the residents here went down to the harbor to try and help,” Martha Stathaki, a local resident told The Associated Press.

“We could see the boat smashing against the rocks and people climbing up those rocks to try and save themselves. It was an unbelievable sight.”

“Once again, Turkey’s tolerance of gangs of ruthless traffickers has cost human lives,” Greek Shipping Minister Yannis Plakiotakis went on to state to AMNA.

“As long as the Turkish coastguard does not prevent their activities, the traffickers cram unfortunate people, without safety measures, into boats that cannot withstand the weather conditions, putting their lives in mortal danger.”

Turkey has denied the allegations and has publicly accused Greece of carrying out reckless summary deportations, known as pushbacks.