Probe launched into boat crash off Aegina that killed four

Authorities launched an investigation on Tuesday to determine what caused a collision between a pleasure boat for tourists and a speedboat off the Saronic island of Aegina that killed four people, including a 5-year-old girl.

The collision occurred shortly after 1 p.m. when the speedboat rammed the pleasure boat, which was carrying 20 tourists. According to the coast guard, those killed were a 5-year-old girl, her 44-year-old father, the Greek captain of the pleasure boat and a woman.

The bodies of the first three were recovered soon after the collision, which led the pleasure boat to sink. The woman’s body was discovered nearly two hours later by coast guard divers at a depth of 20 meters.

The crash also left four people injured, including a 29-year-old woman whose left leg was partially severed.

Another three people suffered minor injuries while the rest of the tourists on the boat were taken to Aegina’s health center and treated for shock.

The four people who had been in the speedboat were not injured. According to the coast guard, the captain of the speedboat – who is reportedly aged 78 – was questioned to determine what state he was in at the time the collision.

A team from the Hellenic Bureau for Marine Casualties Investigation was sent to the island to explore the circumstances of the collision.

The pleasure boat, which sank quickly after the impact, was virtually destroyed, according to witnesses.

The speedboat sustained comparatively little damage, witnesses said.