Officials deny that the coastguard rope used in the Greece boat incident caused the migrant tragedy

A number of stories claiming that a migrant boat crashed fifty nautical miles off the southeast coast when a rope was tied by coastguards have been refuted by Greek authorities.

78 individuals have been proven killed thus far, but hundreds more—possibly as many as 100 children—are still missing.

Initially, the coastguard claimed that it had maintained a “discreet distance”.

The coastguard deployed a rope, according to a government official, when they approached the fishing boat, though.

According to Ilias Siakantaris of Greek TV, the authorities had “used a rope to stabilise themselves, to approach, and to see if they needed any help” a few hours before to the boat sinking.

However, he emphasised that “there was no tethering rope,” indicating that no attempt had been made to tow or tether the boat for any amount of time.

They declined it, saying, “No help, we’re going to Italy,” and they kept travelling.

An activist initially brought up the topic regarding if any of the ships attempted to tie a rope to the migrant boat, claiming that those on board expressed concern that it may cause their incredibly packed boat to capsize.

The ship collapsed shortly after 2:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, saving a total of 104 people from the water, but there is little prospect of finding any more.

One of the worst catastrophes in the Mediterranean, according to the UN International Organisation for Migration, was the sinking.

One organisation in particular, which claims to have been in communication with those aboard the fishing boat, has disputed the coastguard’s timetable and story. Alarm Phone alerted the coastguard by email on Tuesday afternoon that up to 750 individuals were on board and desperately needed assistance.

The coastguard has emphasised that no requests for assistance were made from the crew from the time it initially made contact with them in the afternoon. During the evening, two commercial ships gave the boat water, but according to coastguard personnel, several offers of help were declined.

“People are waiting for any good news at all.”

Following a report by the Greek daily Kathimerini on Friday that a coastguard vessel put on searchlights and used loudspeakers to warn people on board they were in danger and would not be able to reach the Italian coast, the Greek government has insisted that no mooring rope was deployed.

Three hours before to the boat sinking, this is claimed to have occurred.

According to the source, coastguard members secured a rope to the fishing boat so that its crew could assess the situation there. Later, some of the passengers released the rope so they could continue sailing towards Italy in the north.

However, according to two witness testimonies, the boat may have capsized due to a rope.

One came from a municipal council member in the seaport city of Kalamata whom had previously spoken to a Syrian man aged 24.

“The coast guard boat tried to drag them towards the left while tying them up with some rope. The boat abruptly swerved to the right and sank for an unexplained cause, according to Tasos Polychronopoulos.

During a visit to Kalamata on Thursday, another survivor delivered the former president Alexis Tsipras a similar account.

A translator informed Mr. Tsipras, “The Greek coastguard urged the boat to comply with them, but they couldn’t. Then the coast guard threw a rope, but they weren’t sure how to pull it, so the boat hung precariously to the right and left.

The yacht was already hanging to the left and sunk as a result of the coast guard boat travelling too quickly.