Fears about the large number of passengers on board the fishing boat that sank off Pylos were confirmed, with the Coast Guard estimating the missing now at 568, raising, until the final confirmation, the dead to 650 and the passengers to 750. The nine arrested were taken to the Prosecutor's Office of Kalamata. The arrested Egyptian nationals are between 20-40 years old.
The first estimates for the shipwreck in Pylos are shocking as the missing are estimated at 568 with the Coast Guard's investigations for the exact number continuing.
This frightening assessment of the wreck in Pylos is based on reports from survivors, from searches by family members and from initial information from those arrested.
If the number of missing persons is confirmed to be 568, this would mean that a total of 750 people were on board the fatal boat.
Besides, Alarm Phone gave the same number yesterday and confirmed a survivor's message published by ERT.
It is recalled that according to official data, 104 people have been rescued so far and 78 bodies have been recovered in international waters in the sea area 47 nm southwest of Pylos, under the coordination of the Integrated Search and Rescue Coordination Centre of the Coast Guard - Greek Coast Guard.
Rescued survivors from the deadly shipwreck off Pylos have arrived at the Malakasa Reception and Identification Centre. The buses hired by the Municipality of Kalamata, which transported them, started early in the morning from the port of the Messinian capital. Currently, the Malakasa detention centre, with a capacity of 1500 migrants, is hosting about 95.
Among them are some minors who will initially be transferred to Malakasa to complete the identification procedures and then transferred to juvenile facilities.
They are looking for traffickers among the rescued - In the Prosecutor of Kalamata the nine arrested
According to the information that took place in the early hours of Friday morning, the Port Authority of Kalamata with the assistance of the staff of the Directorate of Security and Protection of Maritime Borders (DAPTHAS), in cooperation with the investigation with the mobile office (Mobile Office) of EUROPOL, whose assistance was requested within the framework of the National Operation Plan (NOP), arrested nine (9) men of the above rescued, of Egyptian nationality, aged 26, 21, 40, 36, 32, 26, 22, 29 and 20 years old, crew of the ship who had distinct roles in the transportation of the others.
Consequently, they were arrested for illegal entry into the country, for illegal trafficking of foreigners, in violation of Law 3386/2005 and Law 4251/2014 as in force, as well as articles 187 (criminal organization), 277 (causing a shipwreck), 302 (manslaughter by negligence) and 306 (endangering life) of the Greek Penal Code.
The preliminary investigation was conducted by the Central Port Authority of Kalamata.
