Holidaymakers in Gozo Say a White-Faced, Eyeless Figure Attacked Them. Police Confirm They Answered a 112 Call.
A group staying in the village of Xewkija fled their accommodation in the night, describing voices, moving appliances and a figure that threw a man against a bed. Police confirmed that a 112 call was made, officers attended and a report was filed.
Location Xewkija, Gozo, Malta
XEWKIJA, Malta (night of Sept. 22–23, 2026) — It started, the group says, with a voice in the dark calling “Ma… Ma…”
One of the women staying at a residence in Xewkija, a village on the Maltese island of Gozo, thought it was the child in their group. It wasn’t, by the group’s account. What followed, as they tell it, was a shadow beneath a door, a frightened dog, kitchen appliances that seemed to run on their own, and a white-faced figure with no eyes that seized one of the men from behind.
By the end of the night the group had called Malta’s emergency number, the police had come, and the holidaymakers had left.
What we know
On the record: documents, statements, dates and places. Sources below.
- Who and where. According to Lovin Malta, the group of Maltese holidaymakers, including a minor, was staying at a residence in Xewkija on the night of Sept. 22–23. Their account was first reported by Talk.mt.
- Police confirmation. Lovin Malta contacted the police and confirmed that a 112 call was made, officers were dispatched to the residence and an official police report was later filed. The outlet noted that this confirms the police response and report, not the alleged activity itself.
- No injuries. No injuries were reported, according to both Lovin Malta and MaltaToday.
- After the police. The group reportedly left the property after officers attended. A priest was said to have visited the residence several hours later.
- An operator’s denial. MaltaToday reports that a Gozo accommodation operator has publicly denied rumors linking one of its Xewkija properties to the story. “No guests were checked in, and no such incident ever took place on our premises,” the operator said in a statement. It called the rumors false and threatened legal action against anyone spreading them. MaltaToday notes that the original report didn’t name the property. Dead of Night Dispatch isn’t identifying the residence where the group stayed.
What’s claimed
Accounts, testimony and theories, as told by the people who tell them.
The following is the group’s account, as reported by Talk.mt and relayed by Lovin Malta and MaltaToday:
- The voice. One woman heard someone calling “Ma… Ma…” and at first believed it was the child.
- The shadow. The group said they then saw a human-like shadow beneath a door and heard a voice, while their dog became distressed.
- The figure. Things escalated, they said, as they tried to leave. One man said a figure approached him from behind, grabbed him and threw him against a bed repeatedly. He described it as having a white face with no eyes. He said it later appeared to pass through a closed glass door.
- The house itself. The group also said an oven door began violently opening and closing, a fan moved around the room as its cable was pulled, and buttons on a microwave appeared to press themselves.
What remains
Most of what’s on the record comes down to one fact and one story. The fact is that someone in the group dialed 112, police came, and a report exists. The story is everything that group says happened before that call: a voice calling “Ma… Ma…”, a shadow under a door, an eyeless face, a man thrown against a bed, a figure walking through glass.
The published reports cite no witnesses outside the group. Its members haven’t been publicly named, and the original report didn’t identify the residence. Lovin Malta closed its story with a question for readers: ghost, prank, or something else entirely?
Whatever the answer, the holidaymakers didn’t stay to find out. They left that night.
Update, October 1, 2026
Between Sept. 29 and Sept. 30, 2026, Maltese outlets reported several new developments. This section was added on Oct. 1, 2026.
- The operator’s denial. On Sept. 29, 2026, MaltaToday reported that a local holiday-rental operator had issued a statement denying rumors that one of its properties was where the alleged encounter took place. “No guests were checked in, and no such incident ever took place on our premises,” the operator said, according to MaltaToday. The operator called the rumors “completely false,” said it was “taking this matter very seriously,” and threatened legal action against anyone spreading them. On Sept. 30, 2026, NETnews reported that the operator had also said its property was empty on the days in question.
- No property named. In the same Sept. 29 report, MaltaToday noted that the original report of the incident never named the property. Dead of Night Dispatch is not naming the property or the operator.
- The Church. On Sept. 30, 2026, the Maltese news site NETnews reported a statement from a Gozo Curia spokesperson: “At no stage of the case was contact made by the persons concerned, neither with the Bishop’s Curia nor with the Xewkija Parish.” (NETnews published the statement in Maltese; the English is our translation.) Earlier coverage, including MaltaToday’s Sept. 29 report, said a priest was said to have visited the residence several hours after police attended. NETnews also wrote that information in circulation had indicated an exorcist was even supposed to go to the property. None of the reports has reconciled those accounts with the Curia’s statement.
- The police. MaltaToday’s Sept. 29 report again stated that police had confirmed a 112 call was made on the night of Sept. 22–23, that officers attended the residence and that an official report was filed. According to MaltaToday, the report “confirmed the police response but did not establish any paranormal activity.”
Sources for this update: MaltaToday, Sept. 29, 2026; NETnews, Sept. 30, 2026. These two outlets are cited by name and date, without links, because their coverage identifies the property.
Update, October 10, 2026
On Oct. 6, 2026, the case reached Malta’s Parliament. This section was added on Oct. 10, 2026.
- The question. Nationalist Party MP Beppe Galea asked Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield whether police had gone back to the residence after their first response on the night of Sept. 22–23, and what investigative steps had been taken, including whether statements were collected, inspections carried out or evidence gathered, according to Lovin Malta and NETnews.
- The answer. Bedingfield’s written parliamentary reply, as Lovin Malta reported it on Oct. 6, read in full: “The requested information has disappeared!” Lovin Malta called the response tongue-in-cheek. NETnews, reporting the same exchange in Maltese on Oct. 7, described it as the minister’s curt reply (“it-tweġiba xotta”; the translation is ours) and wrote that the information requested by the MP had disappeared (“sparixxiet”).
- What police said at the time. Lovin Malta’s Oct. 6 report also restated the police account of the night itself: officers responded to a request for assistance and found the guests outside, nobody required medical attention, and inquiries ruled out the involvement of third parties. According to Lovin Malta, the guests had called police at around 2 a.m.
- What the reply doesn’t say. Neither report says what the minister meant by the information having “disappeared,” or whether police returned to the residence after that night. In the coverage we found, neither the ministry nor the police had said more as of Oct. 10.
Sources for this update: Lovin Malta, Oct. 6, 2026; NETnews, Oct. 7, 2026 (in Maltese; cited by name and date, as in the earlier update). Dead of Night Dispatch is still not naming the residence or its operator.
Sources
- Police Called After Group Claims They Were Attacked By Ghost At Gozo residence (opens in new tab) — Lovin Malta
- Xewkija Ghost Case Takes Spooky Turn In Parliament (opens in new tab) — Lovin Malta Dylan Attard, Oct. 6, 2026: the parliamentary question and the minister's written reply.