One of the worst massacres of the Mediterranean: and fishing boat overloaded with hundreds of migrants, perhaps up to “750”started from Dual usein Libyato reach Italy, capsized in the waters of the Aegean, 47 nautical miles from Piles in the south of the Peloponnese. And after a day of searches and rescues – not without complaints from NGOs accusing Athens of “not having started the rescue operation” – they were recovered 79 bodies e 104 people they were rescued. With the risk that the definitive number of victims of this new tragedy will turn into a hecatomb.
“The outside of the ship was full of people, we suspect the same is true inside,” he explains Nikolaos Alexioucommander and spokesman of the Coast Guard Greek, while stating that “an exact number cannot be given with certainty, but certainly the number is very high”. At least 400, according toOimbut according to the first reconstructions of the survivors who were on board the boat “the number of passengers was 750”, says the governor of the Peloponnese region, Panagiotis Nikas.
The same number provided by Alarm phone, which had already been contacted yesterday to report a boat in distress. Even a plane from the European agency Frontex he had sighted the trawler around midday yesterday and “after two patrol boatswithout requesting assistance”, says the Greek Coast Guard: the “migrants then refused any assistance and they have declared that they want to continue their journey to Italy”, say the Greeks. But, in a statement, Alarm phone denies this reconstruction claiming that the Hellenic Coast Guard was “was alerted at 4.53pm” as well as “the Greek and other European authorities”.
So “they were well aware of this craft overcrowded and inadequate” but – denounces the center that takes care of receiving distress calls – “a rescue operation has not been started”, while “the Hellenic Coast Guard has begun to justify the lack of assistance by claiming that people in distress do not they wanted to be rescued in Greece”. They would thus have been lost – is the reading of Alarm phone – crucial hoursuntil the shipwreck, with the rescue operations and the recovery of 104 people brought to safety a Kalamata from the Mayan Queen IV yacht, under the Caymanian flag. Alexiou explains that the rescuers continue “to operate off Pylos and will continue to do so even at night, with the assistance of the C-130 of the Air Force”. Hopes of finding survivors, however, fade with each passing hour.
According to initial information, the people came from SyriaPakistan, Egypt and among them, the rescuers say, there were also women and children crammed into the holds. According to the first testimonialsnone of them wore the life jacket. The leaders ofEuropean Union express their condolences on the news. The President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen she said she was “deeply saddened” and “very concerned about the number of missing people”. The President of the European Council Charles Michel he speaks of “a heartbreaking reminder that we must put an end to the unscrupulous business of traffickers”, announcing that “EU leaders will address the issue at their June summit”.
On the other hand, the comment of the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs was harsher, Ylva Johansson, who explains how the shipwreck “is a sign that our migration policy is not working well at the moment”, hoping that it will be changed with the new migration and asylum pact. “The stalemate that lasted seven years is over”, explained Johansson, defending the work of the NGOs: “They are different from each other but in general they do an excellent job and save lives”. And those who migrate “in search of a better life deserve security and dignity”, echoes them Anthony Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations. The journeys of hope, however, continue. And while others 80 migrants have been saved, always in Greecein Crete, the landings also continue a Lampedusa where 20 arrived on Wednesday, including 2 women, after being rescued by the Finance Guard. They would have originated from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mali and would have sailed from Sfax in Tunisia. Another 23 arrived in Augusta, in the province of Syracuseafter being adrift in the Strait of Sicily.