2023-06-16 05:27:00
The Greek rescuers continued this Thursday, June 15, the search for survivors of the shipwreck of a ship full of migrants that could have left “hundreds dead”. As the days go by, the authorities consider that the chances of finding the shipwrecked are reduced to a minimum and they fear the victims have been trapped below decks, once the vessel capsized overnight in deep water some 75 kilometers offshore.
Police detained nine Egyptians for their alleged involvement in human trafficking that led to Wednesday’s “one of the most devastating tragedies in the Mediterranean in a decade”according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
So far 78 bodies have been pulled from the water, but the IOM said it “fears hundreds of people” have perished.
Greek government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris said on Wednesday that, according to unconfirmed information, there were about 750 people on board the fishing boat.
Two patrol boats, three helicopters and nine other ships toured the area on Thursday.
Nikos Spanos, retired admiral of the Greek coast guard, lamented the tragedy and in statements to local TV said that “the chances of finding (more survivors) are minimal.”
At this point, the authorities raised the possibility that hundreds of people, including many women and children, may have been left behind. trapped below deck when ship wrecked overnight in deep water about 75 kilometers offshore.
The Greek Supreme Court ordered a judicial investigation to find out the reasons for the event and the government declared three days of mourning.
Demonstrations and arrests in Greece for the tragedy of migrants
Some 5,000 people, according to the police, demonstrated in Athens and Thessalonikithe second city of the country, to express his “solidarity with refugees” and denounce the hardening of the migration policy of the European Union (EU). “The government and the EU kill,” read one banner.
Pope Franciswho on many occasions expressed his concern about the dramas linked to migrations, said he was “deeply shocked” by the shipwreck.
Between the nine Egyptians arrested Figure is the captain of the ancient ship, which heeled over before sinking in one of the deepest water areas in the Mediterranean.
Story of a castaway: he lost almost a month on board a ship and survived on ketchup
According to port sources, the fishing boat had sailed from Egypt without passengers to Tubruk, a city in eastern Libya, to embark the migrants and continue on their way to Italy.
The arrests were carried out in Kalamatathe port on the Peloponnese peninsula where the survivors of the shipwreck were directed.
The ship’s engine failed shortly before 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday and wrecked about 87 km from Pylos, in the Ionian SeaSiakantaris specified.
Apparently, no migrant was wearing a life jacket and the deck was “packed” with passengers
So far they have been rescued alive to 104 people“all men”, according to the Greek coast guard.
The absence of women and children accentuates the fears about the number of missing.
A survivor told doctors at the Kalamata hospital that he saw hundreds of children in the hold of the ship.
“We don’t know what was in store (…), but we know that many traffickers lock people up to maintain control,” government spokesman Siakantaris conjectured on ERT public television.
“The fishing boat was 25-30 meters long. Its deck was packed with people and we assumed the interior was just as packed.“, added the spokesman for the coast guard, Nikolaos Alexiou.
According to the Greek port authorities, at the time of the shipwreck no migrant was wearing a life jacket.
The survivors are mostly Syria (47), Egypt (43) and Pakistan (12)indicated the coast guard.
The European border agency Frontex detected the vessel on Tuesday, but passengers “refused help”according to an earlier statement from the Greek port authorities.
A poor-quality image released by the coast guard shows a blue fishing boat clearly in disrepair and laden with people massed from stem to stern. Even on the roof of the cabin there were people.
Many survivors remain in “shock”
The survivors are “in a very bad psychological situation,” he told the agency. AFP Erasmia Roumana, worker in Kalamata for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“Many are in shock, dejected”he explained, calling the situation “appalling.”
Among the survivors, a young man began to cry before letting go: “‘I need my mother’ (…). That voice is in my ears and will be there forever,” said Ekaterini Tsata, a Red Cross nurse in Kalamata. .
The worst migrant tragedy in Greece occurred in 2016 when at least 320 people were declared dead or missing, according to records from AFP.
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