On June 14, 2023, the Adriana, an aging fishing trawler overloaded with up to 750 people, capsized in international waters off the Greek town of Pylos. One hundred and four men were rescued, and eighty-two bodies were recovered.  An additional 500 people – including 100 women and children who were in the hold of the boat – are missing and believed to have died. The sinking was one of the worst disasters on record in the Mediterranean.

The BBC now reports that leaked audio instructions by Greek rescue co-ordinators have cast further doubt on Greece’s official version of events in the hours before a migrant boat sank along with up to 650 people onboard.

Survivors told the BBC that coastguard personnel had caused their overcrowded fishing boat to capsize in a botched attempt to tow it and then forced witnesses to stay silent.

The Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) denied these claims and maintains it did not try to rescue those onboard because they were not in danger and said they had voluntarily wanted to reach Italy, not Greece.

But in a phone call that’s emerged an unnamed man speaking from inside a Greek rescue coordination center is heard instructing the captain of the migrant boat to tell an approaching ship that those onboard do not want to reach Greece.

The coastguard has not commented on the audio but said it had handed over all available evidence to a Naval Court which is investigating the disaster.

Shortly after the sinking, the HCG’s account of the sinking was called into question.

The HCG claimed that in the hours before the capsize the boat was on a course to Italy and not in need of rescue. Analysis of the movement of other ships in the area suggests the overcrowded fishing vessel was not moving for at least seven hours before it capsized.

A video of the overcrowded boat foundering at sea also challenges the HCG’s account that the boat was on a “steady course”.  BBC Verify confirmed the footage was filmed by the coastguard when they claimed the boat did not need rescue.

Last year, a Greek court threw out charges against nine Egyptian men who were accused of causing the shipwreck.

The indictment showed that the defendants were being prosecuted on evidence that had already been contradicted by at least six survivors, who told the BBC the coastguard had caused their boat to capsize and then pressured them to frame the Egyptians.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.