- This topic has 3 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 1 hour ago by .
- Posts
Egyptians smuggler in shipwreck killed fivehundreds of migrants
A fishing boat crammed to the gunwales with migrants trying to reach Europe capsized and sank Wednesday off the coast of Greece, authorities said, leaving at least 79 dead and many more missing in one of the worst disasters of its kind this year.
Coast guard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft fanned out for a vast search-and-rescue operation set to continue overnight. It was unclear how many passengers were missing, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been aboard when the boat went down far from shore.
An aerial photograph of the battered blue vessel released by the Greek coast guard showed scores of people covering practically every inch of deck.
Greece’s caretaker prime minister, Ioannis Sarmas, declared three days of national mourning, “with our thoughts on all the victims of the ruthless smugglers who exploit human unhappiness.
Coast guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told state ERT TV that it was impossible to accurately estimate the number of passengers. He said it appeared that the 25- to 30-meter (80- to 100-foot) vessel capsized after people abruptly moved to one side.
https://apnews.com/article/greece-italy-libya-migration-368f1bfdfbb7c0ad977774bda9c77195The exact number of people on board has never been established, but estimates range from around 500 to more than 700. Only 104 people survived — all men and boys from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and two Palestinians — and about 80 bodies were recovered. The vessel sank in one of the Mediterranean’s deepest areas, making recovery efforts all but impossible.
The Greek lawyers who make up the defense team spoke during a news conference in Athens on Thursday. They maintained their clients’ innocence, saying all nine defendants had been paying passengers who had been misidentified as crew members by other survivors who gave testimonies under duress just hours after having been rescued.
The nine “are random people, smuggled people who paid the same amounts as all the others to take this trip to Italy aiming for a better life, and they are accused of being part of the smuggling team,” lawyer and defense team member Vicky Aggelidou said.
https://apnews.com/article/greece-migrant-boat-fde2f2a6b25550b6b7bea69e6950e76f
- register