Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 19th of July 2020

Case name: 2020_07_19-WM468
Situation: 31 people rescued on their way from Dakhla to the Canaries
Status of WTM Investigation: concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:

On 19th July 2020 at 01.30 am CEST the Alarm Phone got information about a boat with 31 persons on board, including 2 women and 3 children, on their way to the Canaries. The boat started at 6 am CEST on Friday, 17 July from Dakhla, Morocco. We called the travellers and texted them, but no contact could be established in the following days. We informed Salvamento Maritimo (SM) on the Canary Islands on 19th July at 11:20pm CEST who stated to already know about the case. Many boats were crossing the Atlantic Ocean in these days and SM conducted several rescue operations so it was difficult to find out which boats were already rescued or still on their way through a very rough sea. However, SM was searching for boats, on 20th July at 9 am CEST they informed use to send a plane soon. On the 21st of July we got information that one of the rescued boats could be the case we were alerted to but there were so much confusing and even contradictional information that until the 23rd of July we were not able to get certainty. Finally the travellers contacted friends in Morocco and told they were rescued and landed safe at Gran Canaria.