As Greece confronts its worst sea disaster in years, questions are mounting about how potentially hundreds of migrants drowned even as their vessel was being shadowed by the Greek coastguard.
A undated handout photo provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard shows migrants onboard a boat during a rescue operation, before their boat capsized on the open sea, off Greece, June 14, 2023. Hellenic Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS, questions are mounting about how potentially hundreds of migrants drowned even as their vessel was being shadowed by the Greek coastguard.
Exactly what happened in the intervening 15 hours remains unclear. A migrant charity says a person they were in contact with on the boat said it was in distress, but Greek authorities say it repeatedly refused offers of help.Two Greek sources familiar with police inquiries say that, based on accounts from about 30 survivors, the ageing fishing vessel left Tobruk, in Libya, early on June 10.
Over the next few days at sea the boat developed "two or three" mechanical faults, which were fixed by a crew of between 8-10 people. Progress was slow. Aerial photos of the vessel taken by the Greek coastguard hours before the tragedy unfolded showed a vessel crammed with people on its exposed decks. Some had their hands outstretched.
Under EU law, determining whether a vessel is in distress is based on a number of factors, including the state of the vessel, the number of people on board, weather conditions and availability of safety, navigation and communication equipment.
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