One of the fishermen close to the scene of a deadly migrant shipwreck last year off Steccato di Cutro testified at a trial against three alleged traffickers. The fisherman claimed that the coast guard was not present although authorities had been warned about the danger facing the migrant boat.
"When I called coast guards to warn them that a boat was in danger, they told me they already knew about the shipwrecked vessel but nobody was there at the time, neither them nor Carabinieri police", said Ivan Paone, one of the fishermen who was at the beach of Steccato di Cutro on February 26 last year, when a vessel packed with migrants ran aground and sank in rough waters near the coast.
Paone made his claims in answer to a specific question from the lawyer Francesco Verri on February 14 at the Crotone tribunal. The trial in Calabria, southern Italy is on going agast three alleged migrant traffickers who are accused of piloting the shipwrecked boat.
At least 94 people, including 35 minors, were reported dead and about 10 are believed to be missing.
A phone call between fisherman and coast guard
The defendants - Sami F. a 50-year-old Turkish citizen, Khalid A. 25, and Ishaq H. 22, both Pakistani - are accused of culpable shipwreck, aiding and abetting illegal immigration and manslaughter in connection with another crime.
During the hearing before the court, two fishermen testified. The men were at the beach when the boat sank and were among the first to help rescue the migrants who had ended up in the water.
Paone, in particular, said he called coast guards at 4:34 am. "I told them that there was a boat in distress due to the rough sea from which we could hear people screaming. The coast guards told me they already knew. But there was just us on the beach at the time of the shipwreck," said the fisherman.
Trial adjourned to April 10, a second investigation set to close in a month
The trial was adjourned until April 10 to enable those in court to hear the testimony of three survivors who are now in Hamburg, Germany, and who will testify via videoconference.
Meanwhile, investigative sources have said that a second probe, carried out by prosecutors in Crotone into alleged delays in rescue operations after the EU border agency Frontex warned authorities about the presence of the boat, is expected to wrap up in a month's time.
This second investigation involves three police officers from the tax and border force (Guardia di Finanza) and an additional three people whose identity is unknown, court sources told ANSA.