Alarm Phone Aegean Archive
Shipwreck - 11 people died, survivors were put in prison: 90 people survived a shipwreck near Antikythera and taken to the Amygdaleza prison near Athens, while 11 passengers drowned
Thu Dec 23 2021
Category: Shipwreck
Number of people:
100-101
We receive the number of two people on board a boat that had crashed. According to information received, some people are missing and others stuck on an islet called Prasonisi, north of Antikithira.
We do not get through to anyone who was on board the boat, we look through the media for any news of the case and find a few Greek media that report on the shipwreck. It seems that 4 people have died. The reports state a rescue cannot be conducted until the morning.
We continue to try and reach the people on board but cannot get through to speak with them.
We still cannot reach anybody who was on board. We call Pireaus to ask the Hellenic Coast Guard for details on the rescue. They inform us the rescue is ongoing, and that some people have died but no one is believed to be missing. They cannot give further details as the rescue is ongoing but will shortly release an announcement through the press office. They ask us to call them back later.
We receive coordinates from a relative of a passenger who is stuck on the islet. The relative informs us that the phone number of their brother is no longer reachable and they don't know if they have been rescued.
We receive information that 7 people have died, and not 4 as reported in the media.
We receive a link to a youtube video showing the Hellenic Coast Guard conducting the resuce from the islet.
We tweet about the shipwreck:
In another call, the Hellenic Coast Guard confirms that 90 people were rescued and 11 people died. The survivors were brought to Piraeus, and that they believe no one is missing.
Finally, we manage to reach someone who was on board the shipwreck. They tell us everyone has been taken to the Amygdaleza detention center close to Athens. The conditions are bad and not suitable for suriviors of a shipwreck. In addition, they are struggling without warm clothes and do not know how long they will be there. He says that 2 people have been accused of boat driving - they are the only people not in the detention centre.
The person gives a testimony of the shipwreck:
Our boat lost the control and the capitan weres not able to control it and we decided to go the island. They hit the island hard. About 30 person survived. We swam about 3 meters. And we caught the sail cable of the boat. Adults all together held the sail cable. We survived about 30 persons more and hold the boat to not sink into the water. If we are not there maybe about 70 people would have died. You can not imagine what we did and what we got.
Then he describes the detention centre:
My life is in dirt. We can't get shower of bath. We can't eat healthy. We just waiting to die.