The 77-year-old man accused of driving the speedboat that rammed into a parsing tourist boat in Aegina on Tuesday killing four and injuring 16 people, allegedly claimed in a written deposition on Friday that the culprit is the captain of the boat because he didn’t give him priority as marine rules require, considering he was on his right.
He also claimed he was not speeding and that he abandoned the boat because his vessel had cracks and was afraid it would also sink. He said he didn’t throw lifejackets to the people in the water because individual lifejackets are not heavy enough and wouldn’t reach the victims and also because the wind was pushing his boat towards the opposite direction from the people in the water.
Responding to the claims, the law firm representing two of the victims of the deadly crash, a 44-year-old father and his 5-year-old daughter whose funeral was held earlier today, said the accused is trying to cover up the incident and urged any eyewitnesses to come forward.
“As none of these claims can stand up to serious scrutiny, we ask any eyewitness to the incident, or the efforts of concealment, in which at least five persons were involving who have not even been brought before the authorities, to come and testify, to tell the truth,” the law firm said in a press release. “The family of the victims but also the entire society needs it.”
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