Hope dims for missing migrants amid questions about Greece's actions in deadly sinking

  • last year

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Transcript
00:00 charged with human trafficking, these men are among the nine arrested in Kalamata, according
00:05 to Greek media.
00:07 Among them was the captain, who jumped ship before it sank.
00:11 As time goes by since Wednesday's shipwreck, the hope of finding more survivors is dwindling,
00:17 but family members anxiously await good news.
00:20 Kasim Abou Zeid lives in Germany and flew to Greece as his wife and brother-in-law are
00:25 among those who paid 4.5 thousand dollars to reach Europe on the decrepit fishing trawler.
00:30 Both are unaccounted for.
00:36 We didn't get approval for my wife's asylum application to Germany where I work.
00:40 The application got delayed and we didn't get approval.
00:46 All survivors so far have been men, and with the number of passengers unknown, fears are
00:52 growing that hundreds of women and children may have been in the hull.
00:56 The shipwreck occurred in one of the deepest areas of the Mediterranean Sea, complicating
01:00 search and rescue efforts.
01:02 The true death toll may never be known.
01:04 Greek coast guards have been escorting the overcrowded ship for several hours and say
01:08 the vessel declined repeated offers of help, while one network of activists said migrants
01:13 on board had in fact called for help.
01:16 UNHCR are calling for answers.
01:19 What people have said or may have said to the Hellenic coast guards, that boat should
01:25 not have continued its daily journey.
01:28 But that's something that we have seen over recent months, coastal states telling the
01:33 notion of distress with the hope that the boat will continue its journey to reach the
01:39 Italian search and rescue area of operation.
01:43 Protesters set fire to the EU flag in Athens on Thursday over immigration policy.
01:51 This as more than 20,000 have died or disappeared crossing the central Mediterranean since 2014.
01:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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