Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 5th of September 2015‬

Case name: 2015_09_5-AEG61
Situation: 8 distress cases near several islands in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Aegean Sea

Summary of the case: On Saturday, the 5th of September 2015, the Alarm Phone was alerted to 8 cases of distress close to several islands in the Agean Sea. ‬‬
At 7.30am, we received the 1st call by a group of about 200 travellers that had reached the island Mikro Chorio, Agathonisi, Greece with 5 boats, but was lost with no place to get registered or shelter. We asked them to contact the UNHCR. They tried and we also called, but the UNHCR office was closed. Then we advised them to move toward the next bigger town, which was only 3km away from their position. At 2.15pm they sent a message that they had made it and that they would all be registered in Samos.

Shortly afterwards we were informed about a 2nd distress case: three boats were in danger of being intercepted by the Turkish coastguard close to Behram, Assos. A contact person from Lesvos witnessed that 2 out of 3 boats were going into the direction of Lesvos were pulled back by the Turkish coastguard. Only one boat made it to Lesvos.

At 10.35am the Alarm Phone received a call about a 3rd case by an Arabic speaking lawyer. He informed us about a boat in urgent distress, carrying 40 persons northwest of Lesvos. We called the Greek coastguard and informed them about the case. About one hour later, at 11.55am we called them again and they told us that they had saved the boat 5 minutes earlier.

At about 1pm, a contact person called us about a 4th boat in distress with 35 persons on board north of Lesvos. We contacted the travellers and told them to call the Greek coastguard through the international emergency number 112. A few minutes later, the Greek coastguard confirmed that they were already in contact with the travellers. Around 3pm, the contact person informed us that the boat had been saved to Greece.

At 1.30pm the Macedonian solidarity group alerted us about a 5th distress case, telling us to inform the Turkish coastguard immediately, as water was entering the boat. We called the Turkish coastguard, but communication was difficult. We thus sent an e-mail to both the Turkish and the Greek coastguards to inform them about the case. At 2pm we were called by a contact person about a boat in distress with a similar position as the 5th one. We first thought that it might be the same boat. However, when calling the Greek coastguard about both cases, we found out that there were 5 boats in the same area. At 2.15pm the solidarity group from Macedonia informed us that at least two of the boats had been rescued to Greece.

At 4:11pm we received a WhatsApp message from a contact person about a 6th distress case of a group lost on Samos Island/Greece. We contacted them and they told us that they were four adults with one small child. One among them was injured and they had been in the mountains of Samos for two days, without food or water. We immediately informed the Port Authority of Samos who told us to call the police. The police promised to send help right away. We agreed to call back two hours later. Meanwhile we told the group that the police was about to come to their help. They asked for the number of the police and made clear again that help was urgently needed. At 5.25pm the group contacted us again, because the police had not yet found them and they were desperately in need of assistance. We thus inquired with the police, who told us that they had already saved a group in the area. Half an hour later, we forwarded an updated GPS position. At 6:05pm the travellers sent us a WhatsApp message, saying that they had been rescued

At 9.50pm we received a call about a 7th case in the Aegean Sea close to Molivos/Lesvos. A vessel carrying 20 persons coming from Turkey had apparently just reached Greek waters and the travellers asked us to call the Greek coastguard. We tried to call several police stations and the Port Authority in Mytilene without success, so we told the travellers to call 112.

About 10pm we were alerted by a contact person about an 8th case in the Aegean of a vessel, carrying 40 persons, between Didim, Turkey and Farmakonisi, Greece. The engine of the boat was not working properly and water was entering the boat. At 11.25pm we informed the Greek coastguard, who did not yet know about the case. They promised to send a rescue boat. At 11.30pm we forwarded updated coordinates to the Greek coastguard by e-mail. Our contact person, who had been in direct communication with the travellers, lost contact with the boat at 00.30am. We thus reached out to them via WhatsApp. In the following 30 minutes, we stayed in close contact with the boat and forwarded their updated positions to the Greek coastguard. Then we lost contact, as the travellers had no battery left. At 1.20am the Iraqi contact person informed us that the boat had been rescued.