ATHENS, Greece — Greek authorities recovered the bodies of four people from the sea just off the coast of the Aegean island of Rhodes, while 25 others were found alive on land after a migrant smuggler allegedly forced passengers overboard while transferring them. from Turkey to Greece, the coast guard said Wednesday.

The bodies of three men and a woman were recovered near the coast at the southern tip of Rhodes early Wednesday, the coast guard said. The group of 25 survivors were found on land, with police initially locating an initial group of 11 shortly after midnight and the rest found later.

The survivors told authorities they were traveling to the nearby Greek island off the Turkish coast by speedboat when the smuggler driving the vessel forced them into the water and left, the coast guard said.

A search and rescue operation in the area was suspended Wednesday afternoon after authorities learned from survivors that there were no more missing people. The nationalities of the passengers were not immediately known.

It was the latest fatal case of migrants trying to make their way to the European Union using the sea route, either from the nearby Turkish coast or across the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Greece is on a popular route to the European Union for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with tens of thousands of people making their way to the Greek islands, usually on smuggling boats from the Turkish coast in proximity, or making the journey longer and longer. treacherous journey across the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said the government was looking at tougher EU migration policies and was considering setting up detention centers on the islands of Rhodes and Crete after the rate of sea arrivals doubled since last autumn.

Just over 50,000 migrants were registered as arriving in Greece by early November, with more than 43,000 of them arriving by sea, according to figures from the UN refugee agency.