Did migrants reject help before deadly Greek wreck, or beg for it? Coast guard, activists disagree

By RENATA BRITO
Associated Press

There are still more questions than answers about what led up to one of the worst shipwrecks in recent Mediterranean history in which some 500 people are feared dead. The Greek coast guard said that the overcrowded fishing trawler was moving steadily toward Italy and refused almost all assistance until minutes before it sank. This is in part supported by the account of a merchant vessel that was nearby. But activists said that people on board were in danger and made repeated pleas for help more than 15 hours before the vessel sank. Much of these accounts couldn’t immediately be independently verified. And still missing is the testimony of survivors who have been transferred to a closed camp and kept away from journalists.