The questions and the prevailing scenario for the sinking – The ship had refused the help offered to it and insisted on its route to Italy – Fears that it has dragged hundreds of people to the bottom – 78 migrants have already been retrieved dead – 104 rescued have been transferred to Kalamata – Activated mass casualty protocol from Civil Protection
Mystery shrouds the exact circumstances and causes that led to the capsize and sinking of the fishing vessel in international watersin front of her Pyloswhich has been confirmed, so far, to death of 78 peoplewhile o the number of missing persons reaches hundreds. According to initial information more than 400 people were on board the fishing boathowever testimonies of survivors raise this number to even 700.
The fears of rescue crews are that the fishing vessel that sank immediately after capsizing is that he carried an unknown number of people in his holds and dragged them to the bottom with himin great depth. The rescued are 104, and they have already been transferred to Kalamata where they are hosted, while 29 of them have been treated at the city hospital.
At the time of the shipwreck in the sea area where the fishing vessel was sailing bound for Italy there were good weather conditionsNevertheless, for an unknown reason its engines stopped. The first estimates of the cause of the tragedy combined with testimonies that the capsizing and sinking happened “suddenly” are to move people in groups in the holds and create conditions “load shifting”. In fact, it is assumed that there were women and children in the holds, while no women or children are among the rescued.
Speaking to ERT, the spokesperson of the Coast Guard, Captain Nikolaos Alexiou he said: “The outer part of the ship was full of people, we presume the same for the interior. We are talking about several people, without being able to give an exact number. (…) What my colleagues saw when they went to the scene, proves that the ship was overloaded, since people were crammed on deck. An exact number cannot be given with certainty, but the number is certainly very large.’
Mr. Alexiou also confirmed that the shipwreck occurred in one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean. “Obviously by some displacement of the people who were in the ship, it sank,” he said in an attempt to explain the circumstances under which the shipwreck took place.
According to the information so far, the main nationalities of the migrants are from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt.
For hours, however, the fishing vessel that had been spotted both by passing vessels and by FRONTEX had refused help and had repeatedly responded negatively to the Greek operations room for assistance, as stated in the Coast Guard’s official statement. The fishing vessel had started from Tobruk in Libya and its operators stated that their destination was Italy towards which he continued his voyage until the moment of sinking at dawn today. According to information broadcast by ERT, three of the rescued have been taken to the Port Authority of Kalamatawhere they are interrogated.
The mobilization of rescue crews from the Greek side was immediate and very extensive: The armed forces participated with a PN frigate, a C-130 aircraft and a Super Puma helicopter of the Air Force and a S-70 helicopter of the Navy. Civil Protection activated the response protocol in case of mass losses, while the EKAV in the Peloponnese was put on alert, as were the hospitals of the Peloponnese region with officials rushing to the scene in Kalamata.
However, the President of the Republic visited the Messinian capitalwhile the political leaders they contacted caretaker Prime Minister Ioannis Sharma and were informed about the progress of the investigations to locate and rescue any survivors. At the same time, the fatal shipwreck that is developing into one of the worst in recent years in the Mediterranean, he also overturned the pre-election program of the political leaders with him president of the ND Kyriakos Mitsotakis to cancel the visit and his speech in Patras, and the president of SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras to cancel it his visit to Sitia. and all the party events today Party levels move to Kalamata. The secretary of the KKE goes to the Messinian capital Dimitris Koutsoubas.
As it conveys the Best-TV of Kalamata, the President of the Republic had a dialogue with members of the SYRIZA youth who approached her with a strong voice.
Source: Skai
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