2023-06-15 21:09:17
The sinking of a ship migrants offshore greek which could have caused hundreds of deaths. Nine people of Egyptian nationality suspected of being smugglers were arrested in Greece, according to a port source on Thursday. Among them is the captain of the dilapidated and overloaded boat which capsized before sinking, resulting in the death of at least 78 people, according to an official report.
According to the port source, the fishing boat had left Egypt empty before embarking migrants in Tobruk, a port city in the east of the Libyaand he was heading towardsItaly.
Suspicions of “illegal trafficking” in human beings
Those arrested in Kalamata, the port of the Peloponnese peninsula where the survivors were transported, are suspected of “illegal trafficking” in human beings, according to the Greek agency ANA.
The International Organization for Migration (OIM) said he “fears that hundreds more” have drowned “in one of the most devastating tragedies in Mediterranean in a decade”. Greek government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris said on Wednesday that unconfirmed reports said there were 750 people on board the trawler.
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