Cypriot court orders remand of three men after sea rescue

A court in the southern Cypriot city of Larnaca on Wednesday ordered three men to be placed in custody for eight days pending investigations into charges they belonged to a group of people traffickers.

The three were among 26 people saved overnight off Cyprus by rescue teams as their boat sank in the Mediterranean sea.

A police investigator told the court the three were named by other migrants as associates of the trafficker.

He said that a 30-year-old suspect was the captain of the boat and a 48-year-old man was his assistant. A 35-year-old was named by migrants as the man who collected 2,000 U.S. dollars from each of the 18 adults and 1,000 U.S. dollars for each of the six children.

The investigator told the court the trafficker was on the boat, but boarded an inflatable dingy after it ran out of fuel on Saturday and the boat begun drifting in rough seas.

He said authorities were investigating charges involving trafficking adults and minors and providing assistance to people to illegally enter Cyprus.

Rescuers spotted the half-sunk boat shortly before midnight 10 km off the southeastern tip of Cape Greco. The men picked from the boat were treated in hospital and later taken to a facility for migrants.

Six children are in hospital with hypothermia symptoms, with two mothers keeping them company.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades congratulated the rescuers in a message on his Twitter account for a job well-done in strong winds and rough seas, noting that "nothing is more important than what you did." Endit