Frontex,tax cop,coastguard offices searched in Cutro probe

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 1 - Carabinieri on Thursday searched the Rome offices of EU bodrer agency Frontex, the Guardia di Finanza tax police and the Italian coast guard in a probe into suspected delays that might have saved the lives of 94 migrants who died in a shipwreck at Cutro in Calabria on February 26.
    The government and the other bodies have denied delaying search and rescue operations on the night with Frontex saying there was no imminent danger resulting from its boast infrared scan, the tax police saying they had gone out twice before the smugglers took evasive action, and the coast guard saying it would naturally have carried out a rescue in the heavy seas if it had been alerted.
    As well as the 94 migrant deaths, an unspecific number of migrants were missing after the disaster, which prompted the government to hold a cabinet meeting at Cutro which cracked down on traffickers and boost legal routes for migration.
    On Thursday the Carabinieri carried out the searches of the various HQs at the orders of the Crotone Public Prosecutor's Office.
    Deputy Prosecutor Pasquale Festa, in charge of the investigation, delegated the search to the Carabinieri of the Operative Nucleus of the Crotone Provincial Command . (ANSA).