Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd of November 2019
Case name: 2019_11_23-AEG627
Situation: 34 people intercepted by the Turkish Navy en route for Lesvos; 33 people stranded on Kalolimnos, rescued by the Greek Coastguard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On 23 November 2019, the Alarm Phone was informed of two different distress cases in the Aegean region; a group of 34 people was intercepted by the Turkish authorities en route to Lesvos and returned to Turkey; 33 people were stranded on Kalolimnos before being rescued by the Greek Coastguard.


Case 1:
On 23 November at 00:26h CET we were contacted by a relative of somebody on board a boat travelling from Turkey to Lesvos. We were given the phone number of a person on board and a position of the boat in Greek waters. Shortly after the conversation, we had direct contact with the travellers, but they had been intercepted by the Turkish Coastguard and pulled back to Turkey. We later found a report from the Turkish government announcing the interception of a boat of 34 people (12 men, 10 women and 12 children) from Afghanistan.

Case 2:
At 08:40h we were informed of a group of 33 people, including 20 women and 6 children, stranded on Kalolimnos. Five minutes later we made contact with someone from the group. We informed the Greek Coastguard who told us that they were already looking for the people. At 12:22h we were given confirmation by the Greek CG in Piraeus that the group had been rescued, but we were not given a final destination.