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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Helena Smith in Athens

‘Nobody forced us’: the Greek builder who saved 80 Afghans from the sea

Authorities and local residents of Kythira take part in a rescue operation of dozens of Afghan refugees shipwrecked on the rocks of the Greek island.
Authorities and residents of Kythira take part in a rescue operation to save dozens of Afghan refugees shipwrecked on the rocks of the Greek island. Photograph: Ippolytos Prekas/AP

Michalis Protopsaltis does not see himself as a hero. When the news of the shipwreck came through, he did, he says, what any man in his position would do. The construction company owner dispatched a crane to the Kythira clifftop and, one by one, began saving the 80 Afghan immigrants scrambling for dear life in the waters below.

Three hours elapsed before the last refugee – originally bound for Italy on a yacht that had set sail from the Turkish town of İzmir – was winched to the top.

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