<b>Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of December 2020</b> <i>Case name</i>: 2020_12_22-AEG737 <i>Situation</i>: A group stranded on Rhodes. <i>Status of WTM Investigation</i>: Ongoing <i>Place of Incident</i>: Aegean Sea <i>Summary of the Case:</i> On 22nd December we were contacted by a worried relative of somebody in a group of travelers who had been stranded on Rhodes. We were given a phone number, but we were never able to make contact with the group. We emailed the Hellenic coastguard, Frontex, NATO, the Greek ombudsman and various NGOs to alert them to this group. We phoned JRCC Piraeus who initially told us that they had already searched the area, but would not take further information. When we phoned them again an hour or so later, they told us that it was not their responsibility as the group was stranded on land. They would not give us a phone number of a relevant authority on Rhodes. We were unable to reach the Rhodes tourist police or the Rhodes Port authority. The airport police on Rhodes refused to speak to us. Without more concrete information we felt that there was little more that could be done. Nevertheless, if we find any updates, we will include them in this report. It is not acceptable that people can go missing and the authorities do nothing.

This post was originally published on Watch the Med.