What we know so far about shipwreck tragedy

With at least 78 dead and hundreds more missing after the sinking of a rusty trawler off Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula Wednesday, questions are being asked if more could have been done to prevent the tragedy.The Greek coastguard and government officials say their patrol boats and nearby cargo ships had been shadowing the fishing boat since Tuesday afternoon, after it was spotted by a surveillance plane from Europe’s Frontex agency.

At 22.40, the trawler notified Athens of engine failure and the trawler stopped moving. The nearby patrol boat “immediately tried to approach the trawler to determine the problem”, the coastguard said. But the coastguard spokesman suggested the boat might have capsized earlier if they had attempted to intervene.

One video showed a survivor on Thursday telling Tsipras that the boat had capsized after the coastguard had attempted to drag it at excessive speed. Fourteen minutes later, the migrants said that “the boat is overcrowded and… moving from side to side.” “Under international law, Greek authorities should have organised this rescue operation sooner, as soon as Frontex spotted the boat in distress,” he told AFP.

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