Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd of September 2019

Case name: 2019_09_23-WM417
Situation: 62 ppl started from Bouyafar, Morocco, early in the morning, confirmation of the interception in the evening.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On Monday 23rd of September 2019 at 05.30pm CEST the Alarm Phone was alerted to a group of 62 travelers, started from Bouyafar, Morocco, at 05:00am. We tried to establish a direct contact to the boat to find out more about the situation, but without success. At 06:40pm we informed the Spanish Coastguard Salvamento Marítimo via phone call and e-mail. We learned that they had a rescue mission in the region concerned. We agreed they would investigate if it was our case and we should call back. At 08:18pm we called Salvamento Marítimo again to ask for details about their mission and were told they could not give us any and we should call the Moroccan Coastguard Marine Royale in Rabat. When we asked more specifically, they confirmed that they were not in charge for the case we were investigating about. At 08:21pm we called the Marine Royale who reported there had been two rescue missions that day, one still ongoing. We should call the Gendarmerie of Nador. At 08:29pm we did this and learned that the first rescue from the day included fewer people than the group we were alerted about and the second rescue was still ongoing. We should call back in one hour. At 09:28pm we called back and were asked to call again in another 15 minutes. At 10:05pm we called again and were told to call back in half an hour. At 10:08pm we called the Marine Royale in Rabat. They confirmed that they had rescued a group of 62 travelers at 05:30pm local time. At 10:35pm an Alarm Phone member from Morocco who had investigated about the case confirmed that the people were back in Morocco and everybody was safe.