Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations 13th July 2024

Case name: 2024_07_13-CM220

Situation: 19 travellers in distress in the Central Med, rescued by the Italian coastguard and brought to Sicily.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the case: On Saturday the 13th of July 2024, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted to a group of 19 travellers, including 11 men, four women and four children, in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea. They had left from Adjabiya, Libya, in the early morning of the 10th of July on a blue wooden boat. They told us that people were exhausted and sick, that water was entering their boat and that they were almost out of fuel. We managed to get their GPS position, showing that they were in the Maltese search and rescue zone. We then immediately alerted the relevant search and rescue authorities, relaying all the information we had. We stayed in contact with the travellers and could hear that the situation onboard was deteriorating as time passed with the boat taking in increasing amounts of water due to high waves and people suffering from fuel burns. We forwarded their updated positions to the authorities as often as possible. Later, we learned that the travellers were rescued by the Italian coastguard and brought to the harbour of Augusta, Sicily.

Tweets about the case: https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1812191206085886349?s=09