"A red and white helicopter passed above us several hours before the massacre."
Three former castaways who were on the caiac that crashed on 26 February near the beach of Steccato Cutro, on the Ionian coast, put the spotlight on the painful story of the tragedy at sea that led to the death of at least 94 people, including 35 children.
Investigations could now be triggered on these aspects linked to the investigation by the Crotone Public Prosecutor's Office , which for months has been aiming to verify any responsibility for the failure to rescue the shipwrecked boat on the Ionian coast , in the context of which six people are being investigated, including three officers of the Guardia di Finanza.
The other investigation concerns the one on the four smugglers. The lawyers of the families of 47 victims and 16 survivors, after having listened to the direct witnesses of the affair, let it be known that during an examination conducted by them, comparing two helicopters of different colors - the lawyers say - one yellow like that of the Guardia di Finance and a white and red one like that of the Coast Guard, three Afghan survivors have no doubts and claim it is the second.
The comparison started after one of the three testimonies, also made through videotaped statements last June in two different reception camps in northern Germany, would speak of a helicopter ( "All white with a red tail and red insignia" ) which at 19 and then at 10 pm on February 25, therefore several hours before the crash, it would have flown over the boat and then left.
«It is therefore necessary to move the hands of the clock back as regards the knowledge of the presence of the vessel off the Calabrian coast by the Italian authorities, in particular the Coast Guard. This would be a very important element in assessing criminal and civil responsibilities. It is clear that what happened was avoidable and avoidable», claims the lawyer Marco Bona. The Italian Coast Guard "denies, as shown by the flight orders of the air bases" of the Corps, that their helicopters were flying over that area.
So far, according to the official version, the first emergency information on the boat came from the patrols of the European agency Frontex only at 4.30 in the morning on 26 February, when the Guardia di Finanza was then activated and shortly after the shipwreck occurred which caused dozens of dead. The Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini also intervened on the matter, pointing his finger at "an absurd campaign of mud and lies" and underlining: "To suggest that someone has not intervened on purpose, while understanding the potential danger, it is an insult not only to the Coast Guard but to the whole of Italy».
(Unioneonline/D)
