Two of the four alleged people smugglers who commanded the vessel that sank with 180 migrants on Sunday (26), off the coast of the Calabria region, in southern Italy, were placed in preventive detention this Wednesday (1st), accused of the catastrophe. , in which 67 people have already died.
A court in Crotone confirmed the arrest of the alleged traffickers, a 50-year-old Turkish man and a 25-year-old Pakistani man, who were arrested on Monday (27). A third suspect, also Pakistani and aged 17, is in the custody of the juvenile court, which will decide on Thursday (2) whether to keep him in prison, while a fourth is unknown.
The two adults are accused of the crimes of illegal immigration, multiple manslaughter and injuries and were identified by the survivors themselves.
The catastrophe occurred last Sunday morning (26), when the ship, which had left the Turkish coast of Anatolia four days before, sank off Crotone, in Calabria, with about 180 immigrants on board — among them, in addition to Turks, there were Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians.
After the tragedy, 67 migrants were confirmed dead — whose bodies were found — and about 80 survivors, of which 14 are minors, according to the latest official report from the government delegation in Calabria.
While the Public Ministry is investigating the case, doubts are growing in Italy about the possibility that the sinking had been avoided, since the Italian coastguard acknowledged that the European agency Frontex had already alerted to the presence of the vessel the afternoon before the tragedy. , on Saturday (25).
The new secretary of the opposition Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, has called for the resignation of Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.