Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 31th of March 2020
Case name: 2020_03_31-WM460
Situation: Boat leaving from the south of Morocco brought back by the Moroccan Navy. 21 travellers are reported to have drowned.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Western Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:

On the 31th of March, at 17:55h CET our shift team was informed about a boat which left Tan-Tan around 01:00h in the morning. The relative who informed us had lost contact with the boat around 09:00h, but provided some information about the boat, which was black with two motors. We called Salvamento Maritimo in Tarifa who offered to call the travellers after informing the Moroccan rescue authorities. We sent an email to the relevant authorities at 18:49h to summarise our conversation. At 19:02h Salvamento Maritimo (SM) Tarifa called us back and asked us to get in contact with SM Las Palmas. We told them what we knew about the boat. They said they would launch an airplane to search in the area the next day in the morning but that they needed to have the position before launching a rescue. In the meantime, all our efforts to reach the travellers were unsuccessful.
In the morning, the officer from SM Las Palmas informed our team that a plane was departing and would fly over the relevant area for boats arriving from there. He assured us that they were aware of the situation and looking for the travelers.
At 14:45h the SM Las Palmas called to inform us that they were still looking for the boat. At 22:00h we still had no news from the travelers even though we try to call them regularly. We called SM Las Palmas who assured us that they would continue searching for it tomorrow. The next day at 14:02h, our shiftteam called SM Las Palmas after their helicopter landed; acording to the officer they did not find any boat but were still searching. SM also informed us that there had been uncertainties about whether there were one or two boats in distress in the area, but that they were currently looking for just one boat.
In the meantime, the shift team tried to find information about the boat through the Guardia Civil and the Emergency number for police and ambulance on Las Palmas. However, no one had any information. At 18:12 SM Las Palmas confirmed that they were still looking for the boat even if though the plane of the morning did not find any boats. They said that all vessels were in alert and that a new plane would go to search the next morning. The following day, we kept emailing, calling and searching for the travelers. At 19:30h we saw a post from the Spanish human rights activist Helena Maleno about a rescue mission by the Moroccan Navy :" TRAGEDIE / In a convoy out of Tan Tan with 58 adults (22 women) plus 4 children. - 21 survivors rescued by the Moroccan navy next to Tan Tan beach. - 2 bodies recovered for the moment.
- 39 missing persons. PEACE TO THEIR SOULS AND OUR SINCEREST CONDOLENCES TO THEIR FAMILIES."
We checked that number of people on board and place of departure fits to the boat we were in contact with. At 20:15h we called MRCC Rabat who gave us informations about two boats: One boat with 62 travellers, which left near Dakhla, of which 15 travellers had been rescued. And one other boat that left from near Tan-Tan from which 21 people had been rescued, two bodies recovered, and19 people were missing (according to survivors).

In the morning of the 4th of April, we called SM Las Palmas again and got the information that they started a new Search And Rescue operation in the morning for this boat and that they were also searching for a wooden boat in the area. From our side, we still investigated through relatives, authorities, news paper from Spain and Morocco to find out if one of the boats rescued by the Moroccan Navy was the boat we were searching for since days. At 17:40h we finally reached one of the phone number from the boat. The person explained : We arrived back to Morocco yesterday. Last Sunday we embarked from Agadir with 42 people, our destination was the Canary Islands. But we lost our way, we hadn't eaten, and we were obliged to return to Morocco. We didn't have any petrol. Now we are hospitalised, we are 21 people here – 6 women and 15 men – the other 21 died at sea. We are in hospital because of shock, cold, people are traumatised, cough, pain, stomach pain, some people had to drink sea water to survive and it made them sick. We also learned that they had been brought back by the Moroccan navy, and were at the main hospital in Tan-Tan.

We are angry and upset that those borders continue to kill, and all our solidarity is with the family and friends of those missing and with the survivors.