GREEK police have announced that at least six people have been probed in what looks to be more like a murder enquiry “hour by hour”.
The 44-year-old Brit crew member was tragically found “floating in the sea” off Spetses last Friday morning.
The unknown man was on a yacht participating in the island’s annual Classic Regatta.
In an unexpected twist, a public prosecutor ordered the crews of two boats to remain on the glamorous island of Spetses for further questioning on Sunday.
On Monday police confirmed that his body was spotted by a passing boat in the island’s exclusive old port area, deepening the mystery surrounding the man’s death.
The Brit had a gash on the left side of his head, suggesting he had been hit.
Investigators told the Sun they believed he was unconscious by the time he fell in the sea.
A senior police official who wished to stay anonymous said: “What has puzzled, and troubled us, is that nobody informed the police that he was missing,
“Hour by hour this is beginning to look like a murder inquiry.”
On Friday the dead man’s body was transferred to a coroner’s office in the port city of Piraeus, outside the Greek capital.
The autopsy findings have not been released.
The Sun learned that in addition to the crew of the vessel on which the man was working – all thought to be from the UK – the crew of a second boat had also been asked to remain on the island.
“The six will have to give testimony. It’s what the public prosecutor has ordered,” said another official.
Spetses has long the playground for the rich and famous including members of the now deposed Greek royal family.
The three-day regatta wrapped up late Sunday.
The race draws hundreds of sailing fanatics ever year and is seen as one of Europe’s most competitive regattas.
A source told The Sun: “No arrest orders have been issued but they must remain here until the investigation is completed.”
The tragedy brings the death toll of tourists in Greece to nine since June began – described as “unprecedented” by local police.
With the exception of the latest incidents all the victims, including the British TV presenter, Michael Mosley, a celebrity doctor found dead on the remote island of Symi, lost their lives while hiking in blistering temperatures.
Greece has been sweltering in extreme heat for most of the month with the country forced to take emergency measures including closing the Acropolis, the Greek capital’s most visited site, during the hottest hours of the day.
This week the Greek health minister Adonis Georgiadis warned tourists “must be careful” and attributed the deaths to holidaymakers underestimating climate change “and the dangerous phenomena it has created.”
One local Spetsiot said the tragedy had shaken the island:
“This is the Monte Carlo of Greece and nothing like this ever happens here. We’re really shocked.”
