Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 05th of 02 2024
Case name: 2024_02_05-Eastern Med - 58
Situation: 15 people arrived on the coast of Kos, found by police and Hellenic Coast Guard
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:
In the late evening of the 5th of February, Alarm Phone was contacted by a worried relative, alerting us to a group of 15 people in distress who were stranded on Kos.
According to the relative some of the people suffered fractures after falling from a rock on the coastline. At 23:49 CET we alerted all the relevant authorities to the group.
At 00:07 CET the relative informed us of three more people who had joined the group, which then consisted of 18 people. In the next hours we could not get into contact with the group.
At 07:14 CET, after we sent the people a WhatsApp message, they contacted us and emphasized that they urgently needed help and reported that there was an unconscious person and four missing people.
Over the course of the day, we made several phone calls and sent several emails to the Greek authorities, unfortunately without any results. At 14:50 CET a person from the group sent us a WhatsApp message telling us that the group had split into two groups of nine people each. They said that there was a person who couldn't move anymore due to high blood pressure.
At 16:18 CET we were informed by a police officer on Kos of ongoing police and coastguard operation.
At 23:32 CET we were informed by the police that all the stranded people were rescued and brought to a camp, where, hopefully, they could access medical care and exercise their rights and apply for asylum.