Greece probes migrant-boat rescue claims

Two investigations are underway in Greece into allegations that the country's coastguard caused a boat carrying Afghan migrants to sink while towing it back to Turkey.

Some of the survivors claim the Hellenic Coastguard would not allow them to try to save 11 women and children who were left in the water after their boat capsized.

But the coastguard said it was forced to cut the tow line to save its own vessel from capsizing when all of the other boat's occupants suddenly moved to one side.

Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports from Athens.

[zowievondetta]

Probably both sides, in the report,  were telling the truth ….  Was there any apology from the Greek Coast Guard?  There should be!  The people on the Greek Coast Guard vessel must be skilled at sea and would have had understood the danger, when they took the refugee’s boat in tow.  The Coast Guard Captain should be court martialed with loss of job and should do at least a year in prison for manslaughter.  ….   In the past the civil servants, where I’m, acted like masters and felt they were above the law.  It took strong willed citizens who kept court cases going, hounded the media and politicians, for change to slowly come.   Check the body language of the Coast Guard official in the interview,  no hint of ‘… sorry we made a mistake’.  What a monster the Greek Civil Service must be.  No wonder Olympic Airlines was run into the ground before it was privatized.  No wonder the rest of the Greek National assets are being run into the ground now!  And no wonder the refugees don’t want to stay in Greece and head west…