A VOLUNTEER experienced a 'baptism of fire' on his first day as a 'refugee spotter'.

Gavin Fraser, originally from Malvern, witnessed rescue workers attending a fatal incident shortly after he arrived in Lesvos, Greece.

He said the personnel recovered 16 people who drowned after a refugee boat sank on Monday, April 24.

The 53-year-old spent over a week watching the water between Turkey and Greece with a telescope.

"I'm mostly on my own. I do two shifts a day and we have 24-hour cover," he said.

"I'm sat looking across the water now. At the moment I'm about 150 feet up. Six kilometres away is Turkey.

"There are two rescue boats moored in a town [Skala] nine kilometres away. We rely on mobile phones and WhatsApp."

Mr Fraser is part of a mix of organisations working together to protect refugees who make the voyage from Turkey to Greece.

"At the moment, not a lot are coming in. It's a trickle rather than an exodus like before," he said.

He added that 600,000 refugees have reportedly landed on the five-mile stretch of coast he has been stationed on since 2015.

He decided to volunteer as a spotter after reading a Facebook post by Eric Kempson, who lives in Lesvos.

"Eric is from England and has lived here for 17 years," Mr Fraser said.

"He's involved in helping refugees. He has hundreds of videos on YouTube."

He had just met Mr Kempson when they got a call, telling them there had been an incident in Eftalou, Lesvos.

"We drove there at breakneck speed. A rescue operation was going on," Mr Fraser said.

"That was an incident where they recovered 16 bodies and two survived.

"It was two women that survived, one was heavily pregnant. It's remarkable.

"They think there were 25 on the boat so another seven are missing presumed dead."

Mr Fraser left the island on Saturday, May 6, to continue volunteering in Thessaloniki, Greece.

People in Motion, a Worcestershire charity helping refugees, is buying a high-powered optic for the refugee spotters in Lesvos.

Anyone who would like to support Mr Fraser's efforts can donate online at gofundme.com/3k7iek0.

For more information about the Kempsons' refugee support group, visit facebook.com/thekempsons.