Athens, Jun. 19, (dpa/GNA) – Nine Egyptian nationals arrested on suspicion of being people smugglers after the migrant boat disaster off Greece that claimed hundreds of lives are due in court on Tuesday.
They were initially scheduled to appear on Monday, but a judge in the port city of Kalamata granted a defence request to postpone the hearing for 24 hours so they could have more time to read survivors’ testimony, Greek state television reported.
The men, aged between 20 and 40 and who survived the catastrophe, were taken into custody shortly after the overloaded fishing vessel carrying refugees and migrants sank last Wednesday, in one of the worst tragedies in the Mediterranean in years.
They face charges of human trafficking, negligent homicide and forming a criminal organization. They are said to belong to a large smuggling ring that organized up to 18 such dangerous journeys from Africa to Italy in recent months.
The Greek authorities have requested the assistance of the European police authority Europol in an investigation that could span several countries. The arrests were made based on interviews and statements from other survivors.
The 30-metre vessel capsized in international waters south-west of Greece last Wednesday with up to 700 migrants on board. It had set sail from Libya with Italy as its destination.
Only 104 people were rescued alive. On Monday, Greek state radio reported that two additional bodies were recovered, bringing the total of recovered bodies to 80.
The remaining passengers were swept to the bottom of the sea. The boat went down in an area known as the Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean Sea at over 5,000 metres.
Also on Monday, Pakistan observed a day of national mourning for the death of around 300 people from the South Asian nation in the shipwreck. There were no official numbers on how many Pakistanis are presumed drowned, but at least two officials told dpa the number might be around 300.
In a fresh incident on Monday morning, a passing freighter rescued 68 migrants whose boat was in distress off the Greek island of Kalymnos, Greek media reported.
The people had set sail from the Turkish coast, the TV network MEGA reported, citing the coastguard.
All of the passengers were unharmed and taken off the freighter by the coastguard to the neighbouring Aegean island of Leros, where there is a registration camp for refugees and migrants who have entered the country illegally.
People smugglers routinely bring people on the dangerous sea journey from Turkey and North African countries to the EU members Greece, Cyprus and Italy.
GNA