Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd October 2021

Case name: 2021_10_23-CM605

Situation: Around 60 travellers in distress in the Central Med rescued by Geo Barents from Doctors without Borders.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the case: On Saturday the 23rd of October 2021, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a group of around 60 travellers, including 10 women and four children, in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea. The travellers had left the night before from Zawiya, Libya on a rubber boat. We managed to reach the travellers and got their GPS position. They told us that they had problems with their engine. We informed all relevant rescue authorities, relaying all information we had about the distress situation. We stayed in contact with the boat and forwarded updates about their location and deteriorating situation to the authorities. The travellers told us that they were out of drinking water, that the children were sick and everyone was exhausted. The next day 24th October at 04.50 CEST the travellers told us that part of their boat had broken, and we could hear they were panicking. Neither the Maltese nor the Italian coastguard was willing to give us any information about ongoing search and rescue efforts. We continued to update them and draw their attention to merchant vessels in the vicinity, urging them to coordinate a rescue operation. At 11.12 CEST the travellers told us that they could see a red vessel approaching. We later learned that the travellers had been rescued by the NGO vessel Geo Barents operated by Doctors without Borders.

Tweets about the case:

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1452227035666001922https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1452152831767625728?s=20