Five dead and dozens missing after migrant boat found drifting near Spain’s Canary Islands
At least five individuals lost their lives, while many more remain unaccounted for after a vessel transporting migrants from West Africa encountered distress in the Atlantic Ocean. Rescue efforts in the Canary Islands successfully brought 44 individuals to safety, according to a media source.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service reported that a reconnaissance aircraft discovered a “precarious” boat approximately 74 miles south of Gran Canaria on Wednesday afternoon. The dire conditions necessitated immediate action, leading to the evacuation of three survivors via helicopter to a medical facility on the island. The remaining 41 migrants were rescued by boat and safely arrived early Thursday at the port of Arguineguín, where they received assistance from the Red Cross. These survivors, primarily men—with some being minors—originated from Mali and Senegal.
José Antonio Rodríguez Verona, a spokesperson for the Red Cross in the Canary Islands, described the challenges faced by the survivors. Many appeared disoriented and severely dehydrated, with some collapsing or vomiting upon reaching land. Although precise details were difficult to obtain due to their precarious health, it was reported that the migrants embarked from Gambia and endured a harrowing experience adrift at sea for an extended period, with some claiming nearly a month of isolation and rising desperation. Their dire situation was exacerbated as they ran out of food and resorted to drinking seawater.
Eyewitness accounts indicated that over 100 individuals initially embarked on the journey, which included women and a baby. Tragically, as conditions deteriorated, some migrants died, and their remains were cast into the ocean by the remaining passengers.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service indicated that harsh weather conditions, including strong winds and waves reaching eight feet in height, hindered efforts to recover the bodies of the deceased from the vessel. In a separate report, Helena Maleno, founder of the migrant advocacy organization Walking Borders, claimed that the death toll could rise to 83, including three women and a baby. She noted that the boat had set sail from Gambia 27 days prior.
Maleno’s organization frequently receives distress calls from family members of missing migrants and often relays urgent requests for assistance to Spanish authorities. The West African Atlantic migration route to Spain’s Canary Islands remains notoriously perilous. Although the number of arrivals to this region has significantly decreased in the past year, successive years have seen countless individuals perish or vanish along this treacherous path, with some vessels drifting across the Atlantic towards the Americas.
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