Tragedy at sea: Migrant boat capsizes near Canary Islands
At least five people died and dozens more are feared dead after a boat carrying West African migrants ran into trouble in the Atlantic Ocean, reports BritPanorama.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service announced that one of its planes had spotted a “precarious” boat drifting approximately 74 miles south of Gran Canaria on Wednesday afternoon. A total of 44 individuals were ultimately brought to safety in the Canary Islands.
Three survivors were immediately evacuated by helicopter to a hospital on Gran Canaria. The remaining 41 migrants were brought to shore by boat and disembarked early Thursday at the port of Arguineguín, where they received assistance from the Red Cross. José Antonio Rodríguez Verona, a spokesperson for the Red Cross, stated that all survivors were men, including some underage, hailing from Mali or Senegal.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press, Rodríguez Verona described the survivors as disoriented and dehydrated, with many collapsing or vomiting upon arrival. While precise details were challenging to gather given their condition, migrants reported departing from Gambia and being stranded at sea for “many, many days,” with some estimating nearly a month. They resorted to drinking seawater as their provisions ran out.
Survivors indicated that over 100 people had originally been on board, including women and a baby. As individuals succumbed during the journey, their bodies were discarded into the ocean until their strength waned.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service further indicated in an email that challenging weather conditions prohibited the retrieval of five deceased individuals found aboard the vessel, with winds and waves reaching heights of 2.5 metres (8 feet).
Helena Maleno, founder of the migrant rights group Walking Borders, reported separately that the death toll from this voyage has risen to 83, with three women and a baby among the deceased. Maleno stated in a post on X that the boat had set sail from Gambia 27 days ago.
Her organization frequently receives inquiries from relatives of missing migrants and relays requests for assistance to Spanish authorities. The Associated Press has reached out to Maleno and Walking Borders for further details but has yet to receive a response.
The West African Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands remains one of the deadliest crossings to Europe. Although arrival rates have decreased significantly in the past year, tens of thousands have died or gone missing in recent years, with numerous migrant boats either lost or drifting across the Atlantic towards the Americas.
