- The incident occurred in stormy weather off the coast of Calabria, with the overcrowded boat carrying many children among the victims.
- Critics argue that authorities failed to respond quickly enough to reports of the overloaded vessel.
- The Coast Guard, responsible for rescuing all vessels carrying migrants, could have intervened due to their design for rough seas.
Italian prosecutors investigating a deadly shipwreck that killed 94 migrants in 2023 accused two Coast Guard members and four police officers of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday. Prosecutors in Crotone, a city near the site of the shipwreck off southern Italy, must now ask a judge to decide whether the six will stand trial for the tragedy.
The overcrowded boat, carrying many children among the victims, sank in stormy dawn weather just off the coast of Calabria. The disaster sparked outrage due to allegations that authorities failed to respond quickly enough to reports of the overloaded vessel in the area.
Critics of far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni argued that the government’s policy of treating migrant boats as a law enforcement issue rather than a humanitarian one may have fatally delayed the rescue. European Union border agency Frontex alerted the Italians about the vessel late in the evening as the weather worsened.
Prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday that the four financial police officers stand accused of failing to communicate key information to the Coast Guard. They did not report the difficulties they were experiencing in navigating the challenging sea conditions.
The two Coast Guard members are accused of failing to acquire the necessary information to accurately understand the financial police’s actions, leading to an erroneous assessment of the situation.
Prosecutors said that coast guard vessels, which are designed for rough seas, could have intervened. The coast guard is responsible for rescuing all vessels carrying migrants, as boats operated by human traffickers are typically dangerously overcrowded and ill-equipped. The prosecutors described “obvious negligence in applying the rules imposed by European and national laws in this type of situation.”
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