Greece : 29 Migrants were picked up from boat in distress 150 kilometres from Greece

Greece’s coast guard says more than two dozen people have been picked up from a sailboat in distress far off the southwestern coast of the Greek mainland and have been transported to the southern city of Kalamata.

The coast guard said on Wednesday that its search and rescue center was notified Monday night about a boat in trouble with 29 people on board, 84 nautical miles (about 96 miles, 155 kilometers) southwest of the town of Pilos, in Greece’s southern Peloponnese region.

The passengers — 28 men, one woman from Afghanistan, Iran and Bangladesh — were picked up by a Norwegian-flagged research vessel, and were eventually transported to Kalamata, the coast guard said.

Two of those on board, both men from Iran, were arrested on suspicion of having acted as smugglers. Greek authorities will arrest anyone found piloting a boat carrying migrants and charge them as smugglers.

The boat had set sail from the Turkish coast, somewhere near the city of Izmir, and was likely heading to Italy, the coast guard said