CAIRO: Mahmoud Shalaby, an Egyptian electrician, was the sole survivor of one of the deadliest Mediterranean ship disasters in Greece a year ago, leaving hundreds dead.
Sixteen friends from the neighborhood of Shalaby outside Cairo were not found. Today, relatives call every day to find out if the missing is alive or what caused the ship to sink last June.
“Nobody accepted that he could die,” he said.
“Mashgalas suffer every day not knowing anything about their son, brother or father”.
The tragedy in southwest Greece on June 14 sent shock waves across Europe and beyond, raising questions about the European Union’s tactics to stem the flow of migrants from Africa and the Middle East. The ship left Libya.
But for a year, there was no independent investigation by the Coast Guard, no one has been prosecuted, and dozens of survivors, relatives and lawyers were interviewed.
The Coast Guard declined to comment. Shipping Minister Christos Stylianides said the court will determine what happened.
The cause of the shipwreck is disputed. Survivors say the authorities tried to tow the boat, causing it to capsize. Authorities said the ship refused to render aid.
A report compiled a week after the incident concluded that two experts appointed by the Coast Guard concluded that the movement of migrants on board was causing the problem.
According to witnesses, concrete answers will ensure that such tragedies do not happen again.
The Greek Coast Guard was aware of the migrant boat on the morning of June 13 and conducted aerial surveillance. The ship sent out a distress call, but the Coast Guard ship did not arrive until 11 p.m. The ship sank three hours later.
The situation on the plane was very bad. Out of stock. Shalabi was sleeping under the boat and was awakened by screams as the boat began to take on water. He swam to a surface full of floating corpses.
It is estimated that there were about 700 people on board. About 104 survivors and 82 bodies have been recovered. The rest is lost. The search for survivors was unsuccessful.
Greek authorities charged nine Egyptians on board, but they were released last month when a Greek court dismissed the case. According to legal experts, the focus of the investigation will now fall on the Coast Guard.
The British Maritime Court opened an investigation last year, but it is still in its early stages.
In November, Greece’s ombudsman, Andreas Pottakis, said he had launched an investigation after the coastguard twice rejected calls for an internal investigation. The investigation is ongoing.
Eleni Spathana, a lawyer for dozens of survivors who say the coast guard caused the disaster in September, said key questions remain unanswered about the “mistakes and criminal actions” of the Greek authorities.
Fatima Al-Rahil lives in Azrak refugee camp in Jordan with her five children. Her husband, Ihsaan, went to Europe last year to seek asylum, and his family, fleeing the war in Syria, may soon join him.
Fatima was last heard from on June 9 when the boat left Libya.
Ihsaan could not swim, so he took a car tire. But the armed smugglers dropped their belongings as they boarded, said Khalid Al-Rahil, his son-in-law who was with him.
Ihsaan and Khalid separated in tragedy. “I don’t know what happened,” Khalid told Fatimah on the phone the next morning.
A year after Greece migrant boat tragedy, answers and justice still out of reach
