Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 18th January 2021

Case name: 20210118-WM557

Situation: Alarm Phone alerted by relative to 8 travellers in the Alboran. The travellers remain missing.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary On Monday the 18th of January at 23.25h CET the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a group of 8 travellers, all men, who had left from a beach close to Nador the same morning at 05.00h CET on a white rubber boat. The relative gave us several phone numbers of the travellers, but did not know their exact position. Our shift team tried calling all the numbers of the travellers many times but never managed to establish a direct contact to the boat. As we were not able to obtain any further information, at 02.10h CET we sent an email to the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo, forwarding all the information we had. We called Salvamento as well to make sure they had received the information which they confirmed, but they stated that it was difficult for them to act without a position of the travellers. Our shift team continuously tried reaching the boat and obtaining more information from the relative without success. In the afternoon at 17.56h CET our shift team spoke to Salvamento Maritimo again. They told us that they had rescued two boats during the day, but neither matched the information we had forwarded them. At 18.33h CET the relative we were in contact with told us that the boat was still at sea. We therefore informed Salvamento Maritimo that according to the family of the travellers, they had not yet been rescued.

At 20.31 CET the relative informed us that the travellers had been rescued by Salvamento and brought to Motril.

But we never managed to establish direct contact to the travellers. And we received infos concerning this case which contradicts the last information we received from the relative. Therefore, as far as we know the boat remains missing. We fear that the travellers never made it to land, and we condemn the violent European border regime forcing people to undertake this hazardous journey which causes countless deaths at sea.