Tragic accident at sea off the coast of Puglia. A tugboat sank about 50 miles off the coast of Bari, probably in Croatian waters.
Five of the six crew members were found dead. Only the commander survived , a 63-year-old Sicilian, rescued and now in hospital in the Policlinico di Bari.
The six were aboard the tugboat of the Ilma company fleet, the Ancona Maritime Work Company: five Italians and one of Tunisian nationality.
On the spot the men of the Port Authority of Bari and colleagues from Ancona, coordinated for the moment by the prosecutor of the Bari Public Prosecutor Luisiana Di Vittorio.
THE RECONSTRUCTION - According to what emerged, the crew members would not even have had time to give the alarm . The report came around 21 yesterday from the pontoon that the sunken boat had to tow.
On the causes of the sinking, "sudden", explains Admiral Vincenzo Leone, regional commander of the Puglia Coast Guard, "we hope to have some more elements when we will be able to listen with greater serenity to the commander who is the only survivor of the 'crew of six ". The 11 people on board the pontoon boat will also be heard when they arrive in Bari "probably in the evening today".
Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor of Bari has opened a file with the hypothesis of the crime of shipwreck and manslaughter . The investigation, delegated to the Port Authority, is coordinated by the prosecutor Roberto Rossi with the replacement on duty Luisiana Di Vittorio.
(Unioneonline / LD)