Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations - 27th of July 2015

Case name: 2015_07_27-AEG27
Situation: One group in distress near Samos Island, one on Kos Island/Greece
Status of WTM Investigations: Concluded
Place of Incidents: Samos/Kos Islands, Aegean Sea, Greece

Summary of the Cases: On Monday the 27th of July, the Alarm Phone was alerted by Nawal Soufi’s activist collective to a situation of distress in the Aegean Sea, near Samos Island. They passed on GPS coordinates and a phone number of the travellers to our shift team. Initial attempts to contact them were not successful and so we informed the Greek authorities to the situation. A few hours later they confirmed that the travellers had safely reached Samos Island.

In the early afternoon, the same activist collective informed us about a second situation of distress and passed on GPS coordinates. They told us that the group was on the island of Kos without food and water and that one woman had lost consciousness. With the obtained phone number we tried to contact the group but they could not be reached. We informed the UNHCR in Greece and they said that they would take care of the situation. The UNHCR, a few hours later, confirmed that the regional coastguard was searching for them but could not provide us with any further details on the case. We also alerted the port authorities in Kos. Then, for many hours, no information about the travellers could be obtained. On the 28th of July, through the activist collective, we learned that the woman who was unconscious before, had died. The others in the group were well and the collective will seek to assist them. Later the Greek authorities confirmed that a 66 year old woman had been transferred to a hospital where her death was confirmed (source 1).