Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 23rd November 2021

Case name: 2021_11_23-WM788

Situation: 25 travellers in distress in the Atlantic sea; 23 returned back to Morocco, one dead body was retrieved and one traveller remains missing.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Atlantic

Summary On Tuesday the 23rd of November 2021, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a relative to a boat in distress in the Atlantic Sea. The relative forwarded us the phone number and the GPS position of the boat, but we were never able to establish a direct contact to the travellers. We alerted the Spanish search and rescue organisation Salvamento Maritimo to the distress of the travellers, forwarding all the information we had. In the morning at 08.41 CET Salvamento Maritimo informed us that a boat close to the position we had forwarded them had been intercepted by the Moroccan navy and brought back to Morocco. When we called the Moroccan rescue authorities, they confirmed that a rescue operation was still ongoing in the area. The following day, we learned that 23 people had arrived back to Morocco, along with one dead body. One traveller remained missing. We believe this group was the one we were alerted to, and are angry and sad to witness more death and disappearance at the European border. Our solidarity is with the friends and families of those who lost their lives, as well as with the survivors of this traumatic experience.