TWO leading international human rights groups today accused Greek authorities of failing to properly investigate the circumstances around a migrant boat sinking six months ago in which hundreds were killed.

In a joint report, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said “little meaningful progress” has been made in examining allegations by some survivors that the rescue mission was delayed and mishandled.

Up to 750 people were believed to have been crammed into the Adriana, a rusty fishing trawler that sank on June 14, south-west of the Greek mainland while travelling from Libya to Italy.

Following the sinking, 104 people, mostly from Syria, Pakistan, and Egypt, were rescued and 82 bodies were recovered.

Judith Sunderland, an associate director at Human Rights Watch for Europe and central Asia, said: “The survivors and the families of the missing and dead deserve a full accounting of what happened. 

“Our research confirms that a catalogue of failures led to the fatal shipwreck.”

She added that the vessel was clearly “overcrowded, unseaworthy, and in danger” hours before it capsized.

Some survivors have disputed the official Greek account that people on the trawler refused offers of assistance.

A Greek ombudsman investigation said the coast guard failed to conduct its own disciplinary investigation into the agency’s response to June 14. 

There was no immediate reaction to the report from Greek authorities.