Italian prosecutors have accused two coastguard members and four police officers of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a shipwreck that claimed 94 migrant lives in 2023. The prosecutors in Crotone, located near the shipwreck site off southern Italy, are now required to seek a judge's decision on whether the six individuals should face trial for the disaster. The victims, which included numerous children, died when their overcrowded boat capsized during a storm in the early hours of a February morning near Calabria. The incident led to widespread outrage, with allegations that authorities failed to respond swiftly to reports of an overloaded vessel. Critics of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni argue that the government's approach of handling migrant boats as a law enforcement matter, rather than a humanitarian issue, might have delayed the rescue operation. The European Union's border agency, Frontex, alerted the Italians about the vessel late in the evening as the weather deteriorated. The four financial police officers are charged with not relaying crucial information to the coastguard, specifically failing to report the sailing difficulties caused by the rough sea conditions, according to a statement from the prosecutors. The two coastguard members are accused of not obtaining sufficient information to accurately assess the situation and thus making a mistaken judgment. The prosecutors noted that the coastguard vessels, equipped for rough seas, could have intervened. The coastguard is mandated to rescue all migrant-carrying vessels, as traffickers' boats are invariably dangerously overcrowded and poorly equipped. The prosecutors highlighted clear negligence in adhering to the rules set by European and national laws in such situations. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, who supervises the financial police, expressed on Instagram his strong defense of both the financial police and the coastguard, asserting his belief that they have always acted in the public interest.