Autistic man's drowning death after crew pushed him off Greek ferry shocks public, politicians

​​​​​​​By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – The drowning death of a 36-year-old autistic man as he was trying to catch a ferry in the Greek port city of Piraeus has shocked the nation.

The Tuesday night death of Antonis Karyotis, originally from the island of Crete, where the ferry was bound, was met with horror by the Greek public and politicians.

The man had bought a ticket and boarded the ferry, said Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis on Wednesday, but after getting off the boat for reasons unknown then tried to re-board it. It was then that he was pushed into the sea by crew members from the ferry’s ramp just as it left port. Video of the incident was also posted on social media.

The man’s relatives told Greek media that Karyotis was on the autism spectrum.

Commenting on the incident, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Facebook called it a horrifying incident that cannot be tolerated.

The “shameful event does not represent the country we want,” he said, adding that those who were involved in the death deserve punishment.

Meanwhile, four crew members of the ferry Blue Horizon, including the captain, were arrested and charged with manslaughter, as reported by public broadcaster ERT.

They are expected to appear before the prosecutor in Pireaus by Saturday.

In a related development, a group of locals gathered Wednesday night at the Port of Agios Nikolaos to protest the incident.

Various leftist groups have called for more demonstrations across the country.​​​​​​​