Greek court orders smuggling suspects held pending trial over migrant ship disaster

ATHENS, Greece — Nine men suspected of crewing a migrant smuggling ship that sank off Greece leaving more than 500 missing were ordered held in pretrial custody Tuesday, as new accounts emerged on the sinking and the appalling conditions on the trip from Libya towards Italy.

The Egyptian suspects face charges that include participation in a criminal organization, manslaughter and causing a shipwreck. A court in Greece's southern city of Kalamata ordered their detention after questioning them for hours.

Only 104 men and youths — Egyptians, Pakistanis, Syrians and Palestinians — survived one of the early on June 14;