Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 29th of October 2015

Case name: 2015_10_29-AEG113
Situation: 14 groups of travellers in distress near the Greek islands of Chios, Kos, Samos, Lesvos and on Agathonisi and Ro
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Thursday the 29th of October 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 14 groups of travellers in distress in the Aegean Sea, near the Greek islands of Chios, Kos, Samos, Lesvos and on the islands of Agathonisi and Ro. While the Greek coastguard rescued 4 boats, 6 groups of travellers reached the Greek islands on their own or were rescued by Greek fishing vessels. Two groups of travellers had stranded on the Greek islands of Agathonisi and Ro respectively, but were eventually provided with help. In two cases rescue can only be assumed.

At 0.45am a contact person informed us about 45 people in distress close to the Greek island of Chios and forwarded two phone numbers to us (case 1). Although we were not able to contact them, we called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 1am and forwarded our information. The coastguard promised to take care of the travellers and at 2pm our contact person informed us that they had been rescued.

At 5am the Alarm Phone was called from a person whose family was on its way from Turkey to Greece, but the person could not provide us with any further information (case 2). Thus, we were not able to do something about this case but we agreed to stay in touch with the contact person. At 11.15am we were informed that his family had safely arrived in Greece.

At 6am we received a call, informing us about a group of 100 travellers who had stranded on the tiny Greek island of Ro (case 3). We were able to communicate with the group via WhatsApp and learned that there were many women and children among them. At 6.45am we informed the port authority on the neighbouring island of Kastellorizo. They were already informed about the group and promised to pick them up. We also informed the UNHCR in Greece and the Greek rescue coordination center in Piraeus about this case via e-mail. At 9.45am we talked to the travellers again and they told us that the coastguard had arrived on the island with a small boat and had promised to come back with a larger one later on. At 3pm the travellers informed us via WhatsApp that they had been rescued.

At 6.26am we were alerted to a boat in distress northeast of Chios, but still in Turkish territorial waters (case 4). We talked to the travellers via WhatsApp and were told that their situation was very dangerous and distressed. We heard many people shouting in the back. We told them that they were still in Turkish waters and asked if we should call the Turkish coastguard. They responded that we should call everyone who might help them. Immediately afterwards we called the Turkish coastguard and learned that they were already aware about this boat in distress. However, we insisted that they take the coordinates and phone number of the travellers. At 7am we informed the travellers accordingly. They told us that all children on board were vomiting and that 3 travellers had lost consciousness. Half an hour later the travellers called us again, emphasizing their desperate situation. We called the Turkish coastguard again and they told us that they were in contact with the travellers and that a rescue vessel will arrive at their position in 30 minutes. Afterwards the WhatsApp connection to the travellers broke down and they did not receive our messages anymore. But at 11am we reached them again and learned that their engine had started again and that they were able to move on independently. Eventually they had safely arrived on a Greek island.

At about the same time we were also provided with the coordinates of another boat in distress, north of the Greek island of Kos (case 5). Unfortunately, the contact person was not in possession of a phone number and we were not able to contact the travellers in order to receive more information on their situation. Thus, we were forced to remain passive.

At 6.45am we were alerted via Facebook to a boat in distress about 4 kilometres northeast of Samos (case 6). Although we were provided with two phone numbers, we were not able to reach the travellers. At 7.30am we informed the Greek coastguard in Piraeus about this case. Twenty minutes later, the contact person informed us via Facebook that the travellers had arrived on Samos. It remained unclear whether the made it to the island on their own or whether the coastguard had rescued them.

At 7.10am the Alarm Phone was called from contact person whose brother was on a boat in distress east of the Greek island of Chios (case 7). He sent us two phone numbers and coordinates and stressed that water was already entering the boat. Although we were not able to reach the travellers directly, we sent an e-mail to the Greek coastguard. At 8.10am we received a message stating that the people had safely arrived on Chios.

At 8.20am a contact person informed us about two boats in distress southeast of Chios and east of Lesvos (cases 8 + 9). In the first case the travellers were neither reachable via phone nor WhatsApp and in the second case we were not provided with a phone number. Thus, we were not able to verify whether the coordinates were still up to date and decided not to deal with these cases. However, in the afternoon we received a phone number of the second boat. Although this number was also not reachable, we called the Turkish coastguard and asked for information about this boat. They told us that the Greek coastguard had rescued a boat in this area. However, they were not able to confirm the rescue of this particular boat.

At 10am we were alerted to a boat in distress northeast of Chios via Facebook and provided with a phone number (case 10). We called the travellers and learned that their engine had broken down and that water was entering their boat. We called the Greek coastguard in Piraeus at 10.30am and forwarded the coordinates and the phone number. At midday we called the travellers again and learned that they had safely arrived on Chios by paddling with their hands. Afterwards we informed the coastguard accordingly.

At 10.20am the Alarm Phone was called by a contact person who had received a distress call from a boat on its way to Lesvos (case 11). He forwarded a phone number to us but had no coordinates. Because we were not able to contact the travellers directly we sent a short message to them at 11am, urging them to call the international emergency number 112 and also the Greek coastguard. Half an hour past midday the contact person informed us that a large vessel of the Greek coastguard had rescued the travellers. We tried to call the travellers again but did not receive an answer.

At 11.40am the Alarm Phone was alerted to another boat southeast of Chios via Facebook and provided with a phone number (case 12). We tried to call the travellers but the line was busy. Afterwards, we tried to obtain more precise information from the contact person but was not able to reach the travellers either. At 12.40pm we called the Greek coastguard and passed on the coordinates, mentioning that we did not speak to the travellers directly and that we received the coordinates one hour earlier. The coastguard told us that some fishing vessels had picked up travellers from two rubber boats in that area.

A contact person alerted us to a boat in distress north of Lesvos at 2.50pm (case 13). We called the travellers and learned that their engine had stopped, with 47 people on board, among them many children. We provided them with the emergency number of the Greek coastguard. Afterwards we alerted the Greek rescue coordination center in Piraeus via phone and e-mail. At 3.20am we called the coastguard again and pressurized them to take action. At 3.40am we talked again with the contact person who told us that no rescue vessel had arrived so far and that the boat had started to sink. As the situation had become increasingly dangerous, we also called the Turkish coastguard at 3.55am and asked them to rescue the people. But they told us that the boat was in Greek waters and that we should refer to the Greek coastguard. At 4pm we called the boat again and spoke to the very stressed and desperate travellers. We asked them to send us their current position since the last one was almost one hour old. Ten minutes later the Turkish coastguard called us back, asking for the coordinates again. The person we spoke to had called the Greek coastguard to ask whether they were rescuing and had also offered a Turkish rescue mission. The Greek coastguard had apparently told him that they were getting active and that there was no need for Turkish interventions. We informed the contact person accordingly. He was very relieved and promised to inform the travellers and to try to calm them down. Eventually, at 4.30am the contact person informed us that the Greek coastguard had started to rescue the travellers.

In the late evening, at 10.40pm, a contact person alerted us to a group of 80 people in distress, who had arrived on the Greek island of Agathonisi (case 14). They had no food anymore and were freezing very much. We tried to call the local police at 10.50pm but they did not answer the phone. Additionally we wrote an e-mail to the Greek police. But at 11.20pm we receive a voice message from the contact person, stating that the group had started to walk to the local police station. We asked the contact person to keep us informed if further help was necessary. At 0.10am the contact person eventually confirmed to us that no further support was required.