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 .
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