International investigations should now clarify how the serious boat accident off Greece ended, with probably hundreds of deaths. The Greek authorities asked the European police agency Europol for assistance, as per the daily Kathimerini reported. It is believed that the deadly crossing from Africa to Europe was organized by an international smuggling ring. According to rescued migrants, there could have been more than 700 people on board the sinking cutter, including many children.
Nine suspected smugglers from Egypt who were on board and survived are to be brought before the public prosecutor’s office on Monday. At sea – around 50 nautical miles southwest of the Peloponnese peninsula – boats and a helicopter continued to search for missing persons. However, poor weather conditions and strong winds made the work difficult. The search will probably have to be stopped soon: More than 72 hours after the accident, there is no longer any realistic hope of finding any survivors. The Mediterranean Sea is more than 5000 meters deep at this point.
According to Greek media reports, the nine arrested are not the masterminds of the smuggling ring, but helpers. The authorities found their way through testimonies from other survivors of the accident. The gang is said to have organized up to 18 trips across the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy in the past few months alone. Survivors said they paid €5,000 to €6,000 per person for the trip. According to newspaper reports, one of those arrested admitted to having received money for work on board. The others denied all allegations.
Survivors raise serious allegations against the Greek Coast Guard
There were allegations against the Greek coast guard. At first it was said that the officials did not intervene and thus contributed to the ship taking hundreds of people to the bottom of the sea. The Coast Guard fought back: A rope had been thrown to the people on board several hours before the accident to bring them to safety. However, they would have thrown the rope back because they did not want to go to Greece, but to Italy.
According to a WDR report, the coast guard tried to tow the overloaded ship towards Italy. This is said to have been described independently by ten survivors. The ship is said to be rocking and eventually sunk. The Greek authorities deny this allegation.