ATHENS – Some of the refugees who were rescued after a vessel reportedly crammed with 750 of them sank off the Peloponnese near Greek waters said the Coast Guard didn’t want to save them.

Five of the surviving refugees told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the Coast Guard boat there wouldn’t help after dozens were picked out of the water by the crew of a superyacht.

Hassan, a 26-year-old Syrian refugee held in the Malakasa refugee camp, north of Athens said angrily: “I had no impression that the Greek coast guard wanted to rescue us.”

https://anfenglish.com/news/survivors-of-shipwreck-in-greece-they-didn-t-want-to-rescue-us-68073

According to survivors’ testimonies, there were between 600 and 750 people, including women and children on board. Only 104 people have been rescued.

27-year-old Syrian Ahmed said: “I don’t know exactly how many, but we heard their cries.”

According to the survivors, the Coast Guard offered rope twice to help but on the first try it fell and the agency denied claims by other survivors that its attempt to tow the refugee boat caused it to capsize and sink.

A Syrian identified only as Salim told the news agency that, “After a second attempt, the rope was suddenly tied to the bow by a military boat that zigzagged very quickly, creating waves. That’s when the boat turned upside down.”

Another refugee, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that, “It was not an accident!” and the Greek Refugee Council (GCR) said several dozen survivors gave the same account of the June 14 incident.

Lefteris Papagiannakis, a director of the GCR, said: “Why did they pull the boat? We need to wait for the results of the investigation,” adding that there was an obvious delay in the rescue operation.