A cargo ship sank off southern Greece within minutes of colliding with another freighter in fair weather Monday, leaving two Syrian seamen dead and eight others missing, officials said. Seven sailors were rescued.
Investigators are attempting to determine why the 419-foot Antigua- and Barbuda-flagged Consouth collided with the 439-foot Cook Islands-flagged Pirireis in the Mediterranean Sea.
The accident occurred before 7 a.m. about 78 miles southwest of Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula.
“The information I have so far suggests that the Consouth caused the tragedy,” Greek Marine Ministry Minister Costas Mousouroulis told state Net TV. He did not elaborate.
