A French man was arrested in Greece on Saturday after a boat accident that left two dead and another person seriously injured, the coastguard said.

The 44-year-old said he was the driver of a 10-metre speedboat which was in collision with a smaller wooden vessel on Friday evening near the Peloponnese resort of Porto Heli, 170 kilometres (105 miles) southwest of Athens, a
coastguard spokeswoman told AFP.

The collision killed two elderly Greek men on board. A 60-year-old Greek woman, reportedly their sister, was seriously injured and taken to Athens for treatment.

“The first indications point to excessive speed by the powerboat driver,” Merchant Marine Minister Yiannis Plakiotakis told state TV ERT.

Officials could not immediately clarify when the French man, who had evaded arrest for several hours after the accident, would appear before a prosecutor.

He is expected to be arraigned by Monday.

Ten other French nationals who were also on the speedboat — two men, three women and five children aged three to 14 — were initially taken to Porto Heli for questioning after helping to bring the injured woman and one of the bodies
to shore, the coastguard officer said.

The minors were with their parents at the Porto Heli coastguard offices. They were all released on Saturday afternoon, the press officer said.

Speedboat accidents involving swimmers or other boats are common in Greece during the busy summer holiday season.

Also Friday, another speedboat injured a 32-year-old swimmer at the Athens coastal suburb of Glyfada. The driver was arrested.

In 2016, four people including a four-year-old girl were killed when a speedboat sliced into their wooden tourist vessel near the island of Aegina.

Nobody was sanctioned as the prime suspect, an elderly Greek man, died a year after the accident.

(AFP)

https://www.thelocal.fr/20190810/french-tourists-held-in-greece-after-deadly-boat-accident