Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 05th of March 2016Case name: 2016_03_05-AEG225
Situation: 150 travellers stranded on Greek island of Farmakonisi
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea
Summary of the Case: On Saturday the 5th of March 2016, the Alarm Phone was alerted to a large group of 150 travellers in distress on the Greek island of Farmakonisi. The stranded travellers were transferred to the island of Leros by the rescue vessel ILIAS T after we had alerted the port authorities on Leros.
At 10.15pm the Alarm Phone received a message on Facebook about a group of 40 travellers stranded on the Greek island of Farmakonisi. We called the group and they informed us that they were rescued by Greek Navy and were brought to Farmakonisi and held in 2 rooms. Between 2am and 2.30am, various contact persons informed us via WhatsApp and Facebook about more people arriving on Farmakonisi. At 2.10am we called the people on the island and they informed us that the number of people stranded on Farmakonisi had increased to 150, including pregnant women and children. We asked the group to call 112, and informed them that rescue operations usually happen during daytime, but we assured them that we would call the coastguard as well to inform them about the situation. Afterwards, we called Leros Port Authorities and they confirmed that they were already aware of the stranded travellers. At 5am we sent an email to the coastguard, UNHCR and MOAS, describing the situation in detail. At 10am we sent a WhatsApp message to the people on the island, but they did not answer. However, we checked marinetraffic.com and noticed that the rescue vessels ILIAS T and VOS GRACE had already approached the island, so we concluded that the rescue operation had started. We tried contacting different numbers from the people on the island but they were either out of coverage area or did not pick up. At 12.30pm we called Leros Port Authorities and they confirmed that the last group of 30 people out of 150 would be rescued within the next 2 hours to the island of Leros.
Last update: 10:52 Mar 11, 2016
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