Regarding the shocking incident recorded in the maritime area off Chios, when a boat carrying migrants collided with a Coast Guard patrol vessel, Giannis Tzoumas, journalist and director of “Alithia Chiou,” spoke to Parapolitika 90.1. Speaking on the “Apenanti Mikrofona” show with Vasilis Skouris and Sotiris Xenakis, Tzoumas emphasized the severity of the collision, noting that according to a doctor he spoke with, the injuries sustained by the victims were “like impacts that occur when you hit a wall or a wall falls on you.”
“One vessel passed over the other, there’s no other explanation,” he also said.
Tzoumas reiterated that there were no gunshots during the incident. Regarding the type of vessel, he said that Turkish smugglers – in cooperation with Turkish authorities – now use speedboats and “ultra-modern vessels.” These boats “make multiple trips during the night, even two or three.” “We’re talking about ‘flying arrows,'” he said. The cost is almost 3,000 euros per person, “so nearly 150,000 per trip,” Tzoumas added.
Concerning the deaths, they were all “from fractures, not drowning.” “One vessel passed over the other, there’s no other explanation,” he said, adding that “who hit whom is relative when there’s a chase.” The collision was “side-frontal,” he said, commenting on its severity.
Regarding migration flows, Giannis Tzoumas said that “in Chios we have flows almost daily, this ‘war’ never stopped. Only weather conditions increase or decrease the intensity,” he said, concluding that Afghans were aboard the specific vessel.
