The search and rescue operation to find the people still missing after the shipwreck in Greece continued without success. “We don’t have all the information yet, but it seems to be the biggest tragedy in the Mediterranean,” said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson
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One of the arrested smugglers confesses
One of the nine men arrested yesterday as part of the investigation of the shipwreck off Pylos has confessed to his involvement in the smuggling of migrants. This was reported by Kathimerini, according to whom the man admitted to having received money to carry out work on board the ship ‘Adriana’ during the journey, but denied being a “key member” of the smuggling of migrants.
The other eight Egyptians detained, on the other hand, denied the accusations of having formed a criminal organization, having caused a shipwreck and having endangered the lives of the people on board.
The people arrested, all between the ages of 20 and 40, would have made up the ship’s crew, playing distinct roles in the smuggling of migrants. “It was an organized trafficking that had been in the making for 40, maybe 50 days,” said a Coast Guard official.
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Unsuccessful searches in Greece: found no survivors
No survivors were found in searches conducted today in the Ionian Sea in southern Greece after the fishing boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the Peloponnese. The Ekathimerini newspaper writes it, explaining that hundreds of people are still missing. According to media reports, there were between 400 and 750 migrants on board the vessel, including 100 children. So far 104 people have been rescued, while 79 bodies have been found.
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MSF assists survivors in Greece: “Some have lost entire families”
«Yesterday afternoon 70 survivors of the shipwreck that occurred off the coast of Greece were transferred to the Malakasa campon the outskirts of Athens. They are all men, there are 8 unaccompanied minors, all very physically and psychologically tested”.
This was said by Duccio Staderini, MSF head of mission for Greece and the Balkans. A team of Médecins Sans Frontières in Athens is providing psychological assistance to some of the survivors of the shipwreck of Pylos, which occurred two days ago off the Greek coast.
«During the 6-day crossing at sea – Staderini continues – they reported having had very little food to eat and besides having fallen into the sea and risking their lives, all of them lost friends, relatives and travel companions. Some of them have lost their entire family and some say they have seen the hand of their traveling companion slip out of their hands and never see him again. Our team is now in the Malakasa camp to provide these people with immediate psychological support.”