Many human rights and United Nations (UN) organizations claimed that Greece “did not take adequate rescue steps” in the disaster, while claiming that the death toll at the scene was as high as 800.
After one of the deadliest maritime disasters in the Mediterranean happened off the coast of Greece last week, 9 suspects appeared before a judge in Egypt, while 14 people were detained in Pakistan.
Nine Egyptian suspects, aged between 20 and 40, accused of reckless manslaughter, exposing life-threatening injuries, causing a shipwreck and human smuggling, stated that they were innocent.
On the other hand, while many human rights and United Nations (UN) organizations claimed that Greece “did not take adequate rescue steps” in the disaster, the death toll at the scene was around 800.
The UN’s human rights office said as many as 500 people are still missing, while Pakistani police confirmed that the number of people on the boat could be 800. In the disaster, the lifeless bodies of 80 immigrants have been found so far.
The UN office also called for an investigation into Greece’s stance on the disaster, amid allegations that earlier action is needed to launch a large-scale rescue operation.
Mourning declared in Pakistan
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s office said in a statement that the Islamabad government has ordered a high-level investigation to investigate the human trafficking network believed to be involved.
In the investigation carried out within this framework, mourning has been declared in the country where 14 people have been arrested so far.
It is stated that one of the arrested has admitted to sending three immigrants to the boat with a capacity of 300-350 people and receiving three million Pakistani rupees (approximately 10,500 dollars) from each.
“We learned that the boat carried about 750 to 800 people from the two survivors, the arrested suspects and the bereaved families,” a police officer told Reuters.
According to eyewitnesses, the number of people on the boat ranged from 400 to 750, while Greek authorities announced that 104 people survived and 78 bodies were taken ashore.
Doubtful statements
The BBC claimed that there are points that raise doubts in the statements made by the Greek coast guard.
Greek officials state that the ship, which they watched for about 15 hours, capsized in the early hours of 14 June, about 25 minutes after its engine stopped.
Analyzing the movements of other ships in the area, the BBC found that the overcrowded boat did not move for at least seven hours before capsizing. However, the Greek coast guard claims that during these hours the boat was en route to Italy and did not need rescuing.
Greek officials argue that those on the boat did not seek help and said they were not in danger until just before their boat sank.
The ship is believed to have departed from the Libyan coastal city of Tobruk on 10 June. Greek government officials say most of those on board are from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.
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