Americans Survive 2 Sinkings In Greece
Two American women have had their fill of the waters off Greece.
CBS News Correspondent Tom Fenton reports the women are heading home after surviving two deadly boating accidents in a week.
The most recent accident occurred over the weekend when a yacht carrying 38 people—most of them Americans—sank in the Aegean Sea after hitting a rock.
An 82-year-old American man, identified as Richard Idhe of Strongsville, Ohio died of an apparent heart attack. Everyone else aboard were rescued Sunday. One witness said the yacht sank in 20 minutes.
Christine Shannon and Heidi Hart of Seattle were among the survivors. They said sheer luck, common sense and their instinct to survive kept them alive when the ship hit the rock.
"When they apparently noticed we were going to hit the rock, they tried to turn and then it came into view for both of us. It hit and it was probably 20 to 30 feet from where we were sitting, and [dragged] down the side of the boat" said Shannon.
"We saw the panic and we knew we didn't have much time. We saw everybody going to the back, and we went to the front. We went the opposite way," added Hart.
Shannon said people were throwing their children off the boat. "They were throwing their children off of the back of the boat to people in the water. We've since heard stories that people were fighting children for their life jackets. I mean, it was just chaos."
And where was the crew? "I don't know," said Hart. "I never saw the crew." And when reminded that the captain claimed to be the last to leave the ship, Hart said that could not be true.
Shannon also wondered about the crew. "We were surprised to find out that there was over 50 crewmen on that, and we were just like, where were they? I didn't see any."
Hart feared they weren't going to make it. "I thought the whole time we wouldn't make it. I thought this was going to be the fight of our life, that we needed something to pull us through, because I mean, the boat was going down. It was going down fast and the chaos—there weren't enough life vests.
"The man I helped pull out of the water - he didn't have a life preserver on. He floated up and I held his hand until someone else helped me pull him out of the water. He was wearing underwear and had been out there probably 35 minutes."
And Shannon said she and Hart were fortunate. "I mean, we were lucky. It sinks in more and more every day how lucky we are."
After her ordeal, Hart said she has thing on her mind now. "I can't wait to get home and see my family."
Last week Hart and Shannon survived the sinking of the passenger ferry Express Samina, operated by Minoan Flying Dolphins, or MDF. At least 79 people died in that accident when the ferry went down with more than 500 people aboard after hitting a well-charted islet just before reaching the Aegean island of Paros.
Another Mnoan ferry, the Express Artemis, ran aground Thursday outside Naxos harbor. Other ships took its 1,081 passengers to ports near Athens.
A fourth mishap occurred late Friday, when the ferry Rodos carrying 575 passengers suffered engine trouble and made an emergency stop at Syros. The vessel had been traveling on an overnight service from Athens' main port of Piraeus to the island of Rhodes. No one was hurt.
Public criticism has centered on the government's failure to provide rescue helicopters the night the Express Samina sank, and the age of Greece's passenger ships: 29 years on average. The Express Samina is 34 years old.
A Greek prosecutor said Monday he had brought charges of endangering passengers against anyone at the shipping company who might be deemed responsible for last week's sinking of the Express Samina.
"Those responsible at the shipping company were charged with exposing passengers to danger, resulting in death," public prosecutor Dimitris Dadinopoulos told Reuters from the island of Syros, where the legal investigation is taking place.
The ferry's captain and three crew members have been charged with manslaughter and are giving testimony to another prosecutor on Syros, the administrative capital of the Cycladic cluster of islands.
Vassilis Yannakis, captain of the Express Samina, testified for a second day in a closed hearing on the island of Syros. His first officer and two crewmen were to follow.
The four men face a total of seven blanket charges, the most serious being multiple counts of homicide with possible intent. The magistrate can specify the charges for each defendant.
MDF was served with criminal charges late Sunday for exposing passengers to danger, and a prosecutor in the Athens port of Piraeus launched an investigation Monday to determine if the ship had been properly maintained.
After the death of the American in Sunday's yachting accident, the Greek government promised to overhaul the entire ferry industry, which transports more than 10 million people around Greece each year.
Scores of Greek ferries and cruise ships were confined to port Monday after the Merchant Marine Ministry banned sailings for 65 ships that failed to meet safety standards.
Repairs were begun on those ships.
The ban was to be reviewed in 20 on days, but the measure stranded hundreds of passengers.
On the island of Paros, divers searching the wreck of the ferry Express Samina planned to enter the garage, and there were fears the death toll could rise. The car garage is the largest part of the 345-foot ferry that has not yet been searched.
The exact number of passengers aboard remains unknown. But only two people are officially listed as missing.
Shares in the shipping companies involved in the ban ended sharply down at the close of trade Monday.
Minoan was down 11.97 percent, ANEK Lines down 11.98 percent, and Lesvos Maritime down 5.19 percent. Attica Holdings, whose ships were not as afected by the ban, bucked the trend, up 4.95 percent.