Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 7th of November 2016

Case name: 2016_11_07-AEG270
Situation: 17 travellers stranded on Kastellorizo
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Saturday the 7th of November 2016, at 4.19am, the Alarm Phone shift team was alerted by a contact person to a group of 17 travellers, including nine children and seven women, one of them pregnant, stranded on the Greek island Kastellorizo. At 5.07am our contact person informed us that the group split up, as three of them went to look for the police station. At 5.19am we called the port police on the island who informed us that their vessel was on the way to where the group of travellers were stranded. When the vessel arrived, however, they informed that they could not carry out the rescue, as it would be too dangerous to approach the rocks close to the coast. The travellers were told that they would have to walk to the police station, but as the pregnant woman was in a bad condition, it was not possible for her to climb the hill and reach the road. Our shift team tried to communicate this to the port police, but experienced that they hung up when they understood why we called. The group of travellers reported experiencing the same thing when they tried to call the port police themselves. At 9.17 am we managed to talk to the port police again, and they told us that they would send another boat to the place to check the situation. The boat arrived, but only to turn around, insisting that the travellers should walk to the police station. In the mean time our shift team was in contact with the one of three people, who informed us that they reached the police station. At 9.40am we alerted the Greek coast guard in Piraeus to the situation of the travellers. Our shift team stayed in close contact with the group, and learned that the situation of the pregnant woman was getting worse. The group also reported that it was very cold, and they were all tired. We contacted a doctor on the island, and alerted him to the condition of the pregnant woman. The travellers started walking up the hill towards the road, and at 1.38pm we informed the port police that they were trying to get to the police station, and asked them to pick them up by car. The port police, however, responded that there are no cars on the island, and that the hospital does not even have an ambulance; something which turned out not to be true. At 3.51pm the port police confirmed to us that they found the travellers, and that they would make sure the pregnant woman, together with an elderly person, was taken to the hospital. The other travellers were told to walk to the police station. At 4.20pm the pregnant woman confirmed to us that help had arrived.