‘Nobody forced us’: the Greek builder who saved 80 Afghans from the sea

On Monday, 66-year-old is to be honoured in Athens for his actions on night both tragic and awe-inspiring

Michalis Protopsaltis does not see himself as a hero. When the news of the shipwreck came through, he did, he says, what any man in his position would do. The construction company owner dispatched a crane to the Kythira clifftop and, one by one, began saving the 80 Afghan immigrants scrambling for dear life in the waters below.

Three hours elapsed before the last refugee - originally bound for Italy on a yacht that had set sail from the Turkish town of zmir - was winched to the top.