Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 24th of November 2018
Case name: 2018_11_24-WM352
Situation: Nador_70 people _ finally rescued by Marine Royale but 15 people dead
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: At 7.25am CET on November 24, 2018, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to a boat of 70 people (including 8 women and 1 child) that had departed from Nador 3 days prior. The shift team was able to reach the boat at 7.50am and learned that their motor had stopped working and they were unable to send a location as their WhatsApp was not working. They requested that the shift team call the coast guard. The shift team called Salvamento Maritimo, who knew about the case and the location of the boat but had handed the case over to the Moroccan authorities and said they could no longer do anything about it. At 8.10am, the boat contacted the shift team again asking for rescue. The shift team contacted the MRCC, who said they knew about the boat but could not find them, so the shift team mobilized their contacts to find the latest position and sent it to the coast guard at 8.55am. At the same time, the shift team was contacted by the boat who said that two people had died that morning, and later said 8 people had died. Rescue operations stalled for several hours, finally a plane sent from Spain was able to locate the boat, around 12pm, and at 12.35pm the MRCC Rabat said they were sending a rescue boat. At around 2pm, the shift team received news that rescue operations were underway by the Marine Royale. The shift team remained in contact with several people and coast guards until the next day, when it was confirmed that the boat had finally been rescued and that there were at least 15 fatalities.