Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – November 11th 2020

Case name: 2020_11_11-CM328

Situation: 12-14 people lost on the way to Mallorca

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary

On November 11th, Alarmphone was alerted to a boat in distress by a relative of a person on the boat, carrying 12-14 people, which had left in Algeria early morning on November 9th and had been heading to the Canary Islands Mallorca. Contact could not be established to the people on the boat throughout November 11th, 12th, and 13th, but relatives kept calling, asking if we had any news on the whereabouts of the people and boat. At 17.30 CET November 12th we called authorities in Algeria, who did not know about this case previously and confirmed the boat had not been intercepted to Algeria. We contacted authorities in Madrid via e-mail at 18.24 CET asking if there were any news. Our call to MRCC Rome at 18.30 CET did not provide any new information on the case. November 13th at 17.14 CET a family member called, asking for a relative on the boat and provided the phone number, name and date of birth of the person they were looking for. We were unable to establish contact to the phone number provided.

In the morning of November 14th we contacted authorities in Palma de Mallorca to ask about any new arrivals, but this case appeared not to be among them. Throughout the morning, relatives of people on the boat called asking for news of the boat. Some reported they had called the police in Palma de Mallorca but had been unable to communicate their request due to language barriers. Throughout the afternoon we called a range of competent authorities in Palma de Mallorca and Madrid, none of which could or would provide any information related to this case and referred us to the Red Cross. We sent an e-mail with all information available to us to authorities suggested to us by MRCC Madrid at 15.15 CET. Worried relatives contacted us throughout the evening of November 14th.

In the morning of November15th we recontacted all relevant authorities for possible updates on the whereabouts of the 12-14 people lost at sea. None could provide any news on a boat rescued or intercepted matching the description of this case. Late evening that day a newspaper article published in Ultima Hora mentioned the rescue of 15 people near Cabrera. Upon calling authorities in Las Palmas at 00.10 CET the operator confirmed the rescue of a blue boat, but could not provide further information. The operator answering our call to Guardia Civil Mallorca stated the identities of people on the boat mentioned in Ultima Hora had not been taken yet.

Throughout the morning and afternoon of November 16th we recontacted relevant authorities for further information on the 12-14 people who had disappeared at sea. None could or would be provided by the operators answering the call. Meanwhile, relatives of the people lost at sea continued to contact us, asking if we had any news of their family members. At 14.07 CET we again tried to call all numbers of the people on the boat. A single person answered, but communication was impossible due to connection problems and language barriers. We messaged this number asking where the person was and if they were well. We forwarded this text message to all other numbers of people on the boat known to us. At 16.24 CET a relative called and sent us the names and photographs of two people who had been on the boat, which we forwarded to authorities via e-mail. Later on the same afternoon relatives provided two more names of people on the boat, which we forwarded also.

At 08.20 CET November17th we called Guardia Civil Mallorca, who stated the names provided by us do not match the people rescued in the last couple of days. In the afternoon, relatives called asking about any news of the people lost at sea.

Throughout the day on November 18th we called authorities in Mallorca. None of which had any information on this case.

We are still investigating the detailed developments and will include potential updates into this report.