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Boat adrift off Gran Canaria
A boat carrying migrants from The Gambia was found drifting off Spain’s Canary Islands after 26 days at sea, and Spanish maritime rescue authorities said five bodies were recovered aboard while 44 people were brought to safety.
“"precarious boat adrift" at around 6.40 pm local time (1640GMT)”
Spanish Maritime Rescue Services said one of its aircraft detected a "precarious boat adrift" at around 6.40 pm local time (1640GMT) on Wednesday, about 65 nautical miles southwest of the island of Gran Canaria.
Rescuers said adverse weather conditions, including winds of around 20 knots and waves reaching 2.5 metres (8.2 feet), prevented the immediate recovery of the remains, and the remaining 41 survivors were taken to the port of Arguineguin.
The Red Cross in the Canaries said survivors were disoriented and dehydrated, with many collapsing or vomiting upon reaching land, and José Antonio Rodríguez Verona said the survivors came from Mali or Senegal and included some underage men.
Helena Maleno, founder of the migrant rights group Walking Borders, said survivor accounts indicated that dozens more people may have died during the journey, and she posted: "It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost."
Competing death tolls
Helena Maleno said on social media that survivors reported that 83 people, including three women and a baby, had died during the crossing, while Reuters reported it could not independently verify that figure.
Reuters said Maritime Rescue could confirm only that five bodies were aboard the vessel when rescuers reached it, and it said the bodies could not be recovered because of adverse weather conditions.
The BBC reported that Spanish Maritime Rescue teams located the vessel some 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria’s coastal town of Arguineguín on Wednesday and found 44 survivors, with five dead bodies also on board.
The BBC added that the organization was unable to verify how many people were originally on board, and it quoted Maritime Rescue saying that "adverse weather conditions" featuring 20-knot winds and 2.5m waves made it impossible to recover the five bodies found.
In a separate account, CNN said Maleno told it that 83 of the boat’s 127 passengers had died, with four women and a baby among the victims, while SASEMAR told CNN it could not confirm how many passengers the boat was carrying when it left Gambia.
Policy pressure in the Canaries
Canary Islands regional leader Fernando Clavijo said the tragedy underscored the need for a state policy on migration, posting on X: "It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost."
“"It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost"”
Clavijo also said the Canaries cannot accept as normal that "the Atlantic continues to be a death trap," linking the incident to the broader risk on the Africa-Europe migration corridor.
Reuters reported that the incident came as Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta faced a deadly migrant surge in July, and it said Clavijo’s comments were made "especially after a deadly migrant surge in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta in July."
The BBC said the Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings, and it described the journey as perilous for thousands who attempt to reach Spanish territory.
Spain’s Interior Ministry figures cited by Reuters and the BBC said the number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands from West Africa had fallen 57.4% so far this year, and the BBC said the boat was believed to have departed The Gambia in West Africa in early August with 127 occupants on board.