Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 18th of October 2020
Case name: 2019_10_18-WM508
Situation: 11 people, including three children and two teenagers arrive in Spain
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean
Summary of the Case

Mid-morning on the 18 October we received a call from a relative of somebody who had left from Algeria some time previously. The group consisted of 11 people, including three children and two teenagers. The relatives did not have a position. We tried to get hold of the boat, but we were unable to. We suggested to the relative that they could contact the Spanish search and rescue organisation, Salvamento Maritimo in Almeria. We passed them the contact number.

We continued trying to get in contact with the boat. After a couple of hours, unable to reach the boat, we called Salvamento Maritimo ourselves. They took the information and told us that they had already been informed. They would not give us information about an concluded rescue operation. They also told us that it would be best if the travelers could contact them directly by phoning 112. We passed this information onto the relative.

We continued trying to reach the boat, but without success. The travelers were, however, sending sporadic SMS messages to the person who had contacted us. At 14:55 CEST we were able to observe the Salvamar Spica, an asset of Salvamento Maritimo, leave port heading south east at speed. Half an hour after that, we also learned that the travelers had managed to phone 112.

We were hopeful that they had been rescued, but we need to find confirmation. We spent the next 18 hours searching media reports, calling the Red Cross and the Salvamento Maritimo’s information line in Madrid. Our searches returned a blank. Fortunately, mid-morning we were contacted by the relative who told us that he had heard from the travelers and that they were safe in Spain. Boza, welcome to Europe.