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

Case name: 2020_07_19-WM470
Situation: 63 travellers lost on their way to the Canary Islands
Status of WTM Investigation: fate unclear
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:
On 19th of July at 9:20 pm CEST the Alarm Phone was informed about a boat that left Tarfaya, Morocco, in the night of July 18th at 4 am CEST. Onboard were 63 people including 20 women and 2 children heading towards the Canary Islands. We tried to phone the people but their phones were off. At 10.20 pm we informed Salvamento Maritimo (SM) by phone and email and they told us they would launch a rescue operation. In the following days there was a constant communication with SM and with Guardia Civil, who confirmed to be still searching for the boat. We continuously tried to reach the travellers without success. We also phoned Marine Royal in Morroco who stated to don’t know about 63 people coming back to Morocco. We tweeted several times about the case. The situation was difficult due to the departure of several boats at the same time from Morocco at the end of the lock down. Salvamento Maritimo was busy to rescue many boats and Alarm Phone tried hard to identify the three different cases we were alerted to and others we didn’t know at all. Unfortunately, these 63 people were not among the rescued ones. SM kept confirming to continue searching for the boat. On the 25th of July Alarm Phone lost track of the case due to many other cases. On 2nd of August Guardia Civil were called and they said they had been looking for the boat until that day and are sure it has not been rescued to Spain. Therefore we have to assume this boat shipwrecked and the fate of the 63 travellers remains unclear.