Up to 500 people may have died and more than 100 people rescued after a large vessel capsized in Greek waters.

The incident occured 47 nautical miles off the coast of the island of Pylos and both Greek and Italian authorities were informed of the presence of the boat, as was Frontex. It is thought that approximately 750 people were onboard the vessel, including around 100 children, and that teir journey started in Libya.

What Really Happened?

An early report of the tragedy stated that there were a large number of other vessels in the area which is “unusual” in this situation, as was the fact that such an overloaded boat wasn’t stopped sooner. Official reports failed to mention that the Greek Coastguard may have been towing the ship at the time of capsize. This has neither been confirmed or denied by Greek authorities—with Greek politician Alexis Tsipras stating:

“There was indeed a report” that the boat overturned while being towed by the coast guard—“I’m not an expert to know if it’s true”. The Press Project.

https://twitter.com/ABoatReport/status/1669301668259741696

Update:

From Iasonas Apostolopoulos: Today, the Pylos survivors revealed that the Greek coast guard tied up their boat, towed it and then it sank! In the video, in the comments, they say that the coastguard towed them too fast and this destabilised the boat and capsized it. The same information was received by Kriton Arsenis, in addition to Alexis Tsipras.

If this is true, we are not only talking about a refusal to rescue and criminal negligence, but an act that caused the death of 600 people.

▪️ The coastguard concealed this fact and in its statement does not explain how the boat capsized. They write that the coast guard boat tried to approach the refugees to determine the problem and then mysteriously the refugees sank.

▪️Why doesn’t the coast guard did not mention the towing action in their extensive report? 3 statements were put out yesterday with every possible detail.

▪️ Why did you tow them? Where were you taking them? Towing is not a rescue action, but an action that suggests pushback. The same thing happened in Farmakonisi, Mykonos in June 2022 and elsewhere.

🔻Probably they were being pushed out of the Greek SAR rescue zone to be transferred to the Maltese one, so that they could be dumped there and Greece could be relieved of the rescue responsibility. The Maltese zone was only 43 miles away.

🔻The tow explains why the boat capsized with no waves at all.

🔻 This explains why all day today journalists were banned from entering the refugee shelter. Only former MPs were allowed in and they were under pressure not to talk to the survivors.

There should be an independent investigation into the responsibilities of the Greek state and Frontex!

Justice for the victims, safe and legal routes so that we do not mourn any more.

This article first appeared in Are You Syrious?

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Image: Photo circulated by the Hellenic Coastguard.