Frontex says Athens has turned down an offer to fly to the migrant shipwreck

Greece turned down an offer by European border agency Frontex for air assistance before a migrant boat sank off the coast of Greece that left at least 82 dead and hundreds missing, Frontex vowed on Monday (June 26). AFP. This overloaded boat capsized, raising many questions about the chain of custody.

“Frontex offered additional air support to Greek authorities on June 13, but received no response”, said the press service of Frontex, the European border and coast guard agency based in Warsaw. Earlier on the day of the tragedy, the Italian Coordination Center (MRCC) ordered a Frontex aircraft to search for the fishing vessel at 8:33 GMT (10:33 a.m. Paris time). According to Frontex, the latter was spotted at 9:47 GMT.

“The aircraft sighted the fishing boat for 10 minutes before being forced to return to base to refuel”., explains Frontex. Ten days ago, the agency already indicated that it had proposed to the Greeks to send a drone to patrol above the Aegean Sea without delay. However, according to Frontex, Greek authorities instructed the drone to be sent to another rescue in southern Crete, where 80 people were at risk.