Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 28th of May 2019
Case name: 2019_05_28-AEG532
Situation: Alarm Phone alerted migrant groups in distress in the Aegean Sea
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Tuesday, the 28th of May 2019, the Alarm Phone was alerted to three groups in distress situations in the Aegean region. One group had stranded on the Greek island of Nimos and was later found. A second group was in distress at sea and later recued to Kos. A third group was on its way to Kos and was later returned to Turkey.

Case 1: At 00.21am CEST, we were informed by a contact person to a group of 33 people, including 10 children, who had reached Nimos Island in Greece and needed support. We received their GPS position and the information that they had run out of drinking water and were unable to leave from where they had reached land. Shortly after we informed the Greek coastguards and they confirmed they would look into the situation. At around 1am, our contact person stated that the people on the island could see a boat approaching. At 1.38am, the Greek coastguards said that they were still searching for the group. At 2.19am, the Greek coastguards of Symi Island confirmed that the people had been detected and rescued off Nimos Island. At 2.23am, also our contact person confirmed their rescue. At 6.40am, the authorities on Symi confirmed that they and rescued 33 people, including 10 children, and all were in good health.

Case 2: Via a contact person we learned at 4.01am about a group of about 20 people who were moving on a boat to Kos island. We reach the boat at 4.10am and the person on board confirmed that there were 25 people, including 10 women and 10 children on board. He asked us to alert the Greek authorities. At 4.19am, we received their GPS position. When we informed the Greek coastguards at 4.27am, they confirmed that they had already rescued the boat – the people had themselves informed the authorities. We could not re-connect with the people but later on, our initial contact person also confirmed their rescue to Greece.

Case 3: At 10.41pm, we were alerted by a contact person to a missing boat in the Aegean that had tried to reach Kos Island, carrying about 18 people. Soon after we received the information that the people were in urgent distress, at risk of capsizing. They were still in Turkish waters and so we contacted the Turkish coastguards at 11.07pm. They confirmed that they would look into the case. We were not able to reach the travellers directly but at 11.31pm, our contact person stated that the coastguards were now with the group in distress. At 00.57am, the Turkish authorities confirmed that the boat had been detected and was now being guided to the port of Bodrum.