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Staff and agencies
Guardian Unlimited

Wednesday September 27, 2000

The captain and four officers in charge of the Greek ferry that sank, killing at least 62 people, have been arrested on charges of criminal negligence.

The arrest of Captain Vassilis Yannakis, his lieutenant Anastasios Psychoyos and three other crew members was ordered by public prosecutors after Greek justice minister Michalis Stathopoulos launched a criminal enquiry today.

Coastguard officials said they were baffled about how the ferry could have struck the rocky outcrop of Portes, which is marked on maritime charts and has a navigation light.

Passengers on the Express Samina, which sunk late last night near Paros, reported panic as survivors scrambled for lifeboats and jackets with no instructions from the crew.

Engineer Stamatis Delavinias said: "I thought of the Titanic. The boat sank in about half an hour. There were old women and others who were afraid to jump in the sea."

Survivor Zoe Kolida added: "The ship fell apart as it sank. There were people hanging from the railings. Children were crying and old people were screaming. I jumped in and looked back after about 50 metres and the ship was gone."

The Express Samina, carrying 511 people, hit the islet just one-and-a-half miles from Paros. The ferry was on the popular tourists' route from the Athens port of Piraeus to the island of Samos. Survivors, including several Britons, described terrifying scenes as they tried to stay afloat and wait for help amidst 35mph winds.

Today dozens of anxious relatives gathered at the ferry company offices waiting for news of their loved ones.

By 3.30pm today the death toll was 62 and dozens were still missing. A port official also suffered a heart attack and died after hearing news of the sinking. Passengers on board the ferry were thought to include Greeks, Belgians, Russians, Australians, Italians, New Zealanders and Britons. No Britons have been reported dead.

British survivor Michael Beaton said: "As it was tipping further and further over, I was trying to help push people over the railings."

He told BBC News: "As it finally went down, I got smashed on the head by a piece of metal and I was trapped under something. I managed to swim out and climb on top of a life raft that was floating upside down."

Survivor Leona Swart told Sky News: "We just had to hang on to the rail. It was listing higher and higher and going down the one side. I was just scared that it was going to suck us inside. That's why we decided to go round the end and climb over and hang on to the ropes and just let ourselves go."

Dozens of fishing boats and other vessels rushed to the scene and helped in the rescue as life rafts and vests washed ashore on some of the island's most popular beaches. The rescue fleet included four British Navy vessels, plus helicopters, on exercise in the area. Rescue efforts were hampered by a fresh gale with winds blowing up to 46 miles per hour.

"The sea state is quite rough. They are continuing to search the cliffs and the sea," said a British ministry of defense spokesman.

British warships on an exercise near the scene launched three helicopters and rescued at least 12 people from rocks and took them aboard the HMS Invincible for treatment. They were suffering from cold, shock and minor cuts and bruises.

"People were spotted clinging to rocks in the swelling seas and Invincible's helicopters winched them to safety... 12 people, including two Britons, were picked off the rocks and flown to the aircraft carrier to receive medical assistance," the spokesman said.

Eyewitness Nick Barwis told BBC News 24 he had seen British survivors of the disaster and they were "OK".

Mr Barwis said: "There are several clusters of rocks outside the harbour and some of the survivors managed to get on to them. We saw small fishing boats bringing in survivors. In the darkness all we could see was the lights on the lifejackets which meant they had been submersed. Surprisingly, very early on, even with the first survivors, the doctors were saying they were suffering from hypothermia.

"I have been in the hospital all through the night with my wife who is a nurse and clearly that figure (the death toll) is going to rise by some considerable amount. The seas were extremely rough. Late in the afternoon and evening it started to get very windy and some of the ferries were not actually going out in it. Survivors said it went down in two or three minutes and people did not even have time to get a lifejacket."

Two Britons were among survivors rescued by helicopters from aircraft carrier HMS Invincible. Speaking from Invincible, friends Katrina Wallace from Hertfordshire and Nicola Gibson from Derby said they clung desperately to rocks for over three hours.

Ms Wallace said: "I heard the crack as the ship hit the rock at about 10.30 last night. Luckily I found a lifeboat to get on despite all the screaming and chaos. It was just like on the Titanic I guess."

She told BBC Radio 5 Live: "There were about 12 of us in the boat and we saw people jumping off the ship into the sea. We thought we were safe but then we hit a rock, so then we had to clamber on to the rock with waves crashing around us. We were terrified, cold and just waiting for help."

Nicola Gibson said: "We managed luckily to stay together even though it was mad with people pushing and very chaotic. When the helicopter arrived we were getting so tired and cold and we thought waves were going to wash us off. We are so, so lucky, so many people have died."

Coastguard officials could not understand why the 450ft, 4,407-tonne craft hit the Portes islet, which is well-marked. Theoharis Tsoukalas, captain of another ferry, said he made the same run almost every day and could not remember any other ship ever hitting the islet.

The Express Samina was one of the oldest ferries in the Greek domestic fleet and had a comparative lack of exit facilities, according to the Greek Island Hopping guidebook, which warned readers against using the ferry as she is reaching the 35-year Greek age limit.

The current edition states: "This dreadful boat is arguably the worst Greek ferry afloat. A large grime-bucket with a reputation for running late, she is definitely a boat to be avoided."

In August, a hydrofoil belonging to Minoan Flying Dolphins, the largest Greek domestic ferry operator, caught fire between the islands of Aegina and Poros in the Saronic gulf. None of the 69 passengers or seven crew were harmed.