Greece's coastguard on Thursday said it was looking for four migrants believed to be missing at sea after falling out of a smuggling speedboat.

The coastguard said it had rescued 18 migrants near the Aegean island of Samos, who said another four people had fallen out of the speedboat.

Greek patrol boats and helicopters are searching the area, assisted by an EU border vessel, the coastguard said in a statement.

Thousands come to Greece via Turkey over the narrow and perilous sea crossing separating the traditional foes.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2022 recorded nearly 380 people dead or missing in the eastern Mediterranean.

So far this year, 18 people have been recorded either dead or missing.