Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 1st of November 2019

Case name: 2019_11_01-AEG610
Situation: 25 travelers landed on their own on Lesvos; 30-40 people rescued by Turkish coastguard and brought to Kusadası / Aydın, Turkey; 50 people (pregnant women, children, old people) landed on their own on Lesvos; one group intercepted to Turkey from Greek waters.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases:

On 1 November 2019, the Alarm Phone was alerted to four situations of distress in the Aegean Sea:
The first alert came in at 01:02am CET from a group of 25 travelers close to the shore of Lesvos. We informed the Greek coastguard and the travelers confirmed their safe landing at 01:47am.
The second distress call reached us at 02:13am. After some communication difficulties and the help of an Arabic translator we informed the Turkish coastguard at 02:43am and they confirmed the rescue of 30-40 people at 03:29am.
The third alert reached us at 05:00am from 50 travelers north-west of Lesvos who finally made the landing on their own.
The fourth call at 10:07pm came from a family member who informed us about their cousin being in distress near Kos. A few minutes later he informed us that they had been intercepted to Turkey from a position that was in Greek waters. We are still investigating this case.

Case 1:
At 01:02am CET the Alarm Phone was alerted by a group of 25 people, among them women and children and people with severe colds, who had arrived at the southern shore of Lesvos and were in trouble with the landing. We spoke to a woman who reported that her father was not doing well, and they needed help. After several unsuccessful attempts, we got through to the Greek coastguard at 01:20am and passed them all information about the case. They already new of the case and had sent out a rescue unit. At 01:47am we spoke to the travelers again and learned they had safely arrived on the island.

Case 2:
At 02:13am CET a friend of someone in a group of travelers called us and sent us their GPS location and a phone number of the people. She reported their situation was dangerous and asked us to inform the Turkish coastguard. The GPS location was in Turkish waters and she said that the people had already called the coastguard themselves. At 02:18am our shift team tried to contact the people directly, who spoke Arabic, so we got back to them via an Arabic translator at 02:33am who confirmed that the travelers were in panic and asking us to inform the Turkish coastguard. At 02:43am we passed all our information to the Turkish coastguard via phone call and e-mail. At 02:49am our Arabic translator reported he had tried to calm the travelers, telling them help was coming, but people were very scared. At 03:29am we received an e-mail from the Turkish coastguard confirming the rescue of 30 to 40 people who would be transferred to Kusadası / Aydın, Turkey.

Case 3:
At 05:00am CET we received a call from a group of around 50 travelers north west from Lesvos in Greek waters. There were elderly people, women (one of them pregnant), children, a new-born and a 70-year old with health problems, possibly heart issues. The people were very scared, reported of high waves and urgently asked for help. It took us some time to clarify their GPS location and at 05:20am we informed the Greek coastguard vie phone. We also sent an e-mail with all the information. We informed the travelers that the coastguard was alerted. Meanwhile we learned that the coastguard had alerted a fishing vessel close to the travelers’ boat and at 05:59am the travelers also reported to see it approach but by the time they had already come very close to the shore. At 06:12am we talked to them again, when they had made the landing on their own, in the north of Lesvos, everyone was doing okay and there were landing teams who received them.

Case 4:
At 10:07pm CET the Alarm Phone was called by somebody whose cousin was on a boat in distress close to Kos island, Greece. According to the GPS location they sent us, they were clearly in Greek waters. At 10:12pm they called us back, telling us that the boat had just been intercepted by the Turkish police. We could only advise them that it might take 48 hours until they could get in touch with their cousin again, when the travelers would be released from the police station.
It remains to be investigated why this pull-back from Greek waters took place.