Italy: Cutro survivors say coast guard chopper flew over them without providing help

“A white and red helicopter flew above us several hours before the tragedy,” three survivors of the deadly February 2023 shipwreck near the Italian town of Cutro in southern Italy, said.

On February 26, a wooden boat carrying a group of around 180 migrants crashed into the rocks in the Ionian Sea off the Calabrian beach of Steccato di Cutro.

Now, the alleged presence of a coast guard chopper once again highlights the disaster, in which at least 94 people, including 35 children, died.

The presence of the helicopter, survivors claim, allegedly meant that Italian authorities were possibly more aware of the vessel’s difficulties earlier than they previously said.

Also read: Investigation reveals Frontex involved in Cutro shipwreck cover-up

Coast guard denies claim

On Sunday (July 30), the Italian coast guard — whose choppers and vessels are painted in white and red — denied that one of their helicopters had been monitoring the migrants’ boat.

The allegations could now become part of the investigation by prosecutors in Crotone, a port city near Cutro. They are trying to establish whether someone was responsible for failing to help the vessel.

Six people are currently under investigation, including three finance police officers. Prosecutors are moreover probing possible delays in rescue efforts. A separate investigation into the tragedy is focusing on four suspected smugglers.

Meanwhile, attorneys representing the families of the 47 victims and 16 survivors announced new initiatives after listening to the accounts provided by survivors. After comparing two helicopters of different colors — a yellow one, like a finance police chopper, and a white and red one like a coast guard chopper — they said that three Afghan passengers had no doubt the chopper they saw looked like the one of the coast guard.

The comparison was carried out after one of the three survivors, whose testimonies were video recorded in June at two different hosting camps in northern Germany, spoke about a helicopter.

According to the survivor, the chopper was “entirely white with a red tail and red ensigns” and flew over the boat at 7 pm and again at 10 pm on February 25, only hours before the disaster, before it left.

Also read: Italy: Shipwreck survivor says smugglers asked for payment after he escaped death

Were authorities aware of the boat sooner?

Given the witness accounts, “it is necessary to move the clock back in regards to the knowledge Italian authorities had about the presence of the boat off the coast of Calabria, in particular the coast guard,” the victims’ attorney Marco Bona said.

The Italian coast guard has firmly denied the presence of one of their helicopters in the air at that time, “as is evident from the flight orders of the coast guard air bases,” the unit said.

According to the official version, Italian authorities were first alerted about an emergency on the boat by a Frontex aircraft patrolling the area at 4:30 am on February 26. Finance police subsequently took action — shortly before the deadly shipwreck.

The key question the potential investigation will have to try to answer is whether the three migrants at sea were able to correctly identity the colors of a chopper at night, or whether, for example, they mistook a Frontex aircraft for a chopper. Greek authorities, whose choppers are light blue, can reportedly be ruled out.

Calling the case an “absurd campaign of mudslinging and lies,” deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said that “not intervening on purpose, while understanding the potential danger, is an insult not only for the coast guard but for all of Italy.”