Rescue crews on Sunday intensified their efforts to locate approximately 48 migrants missing after their boat capsized near the Spanish island of El Hierro, potentially marking the deadliest maritime tragedy in 30 years of crossings from Africa to the Canary Islands.
Emergency services have confirmed nine fatalities, including one child, following the boat’s sinking in the early hours of Saturday morning. Out of the 84 migrants attempting to reach Spain, rescuers managed to save 27 individuals.
A coastguard vessel departed from El Hierro on Sunday to recommence the search, with additional rescue boats and air support anticipated to join the operation. Spanish authorities reported that the migrants hailed from Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal.
The emergency services received an urgent call shortly after midnight on Saturday from the stricken vessel, located about four miles off the coast of El Hierro. The boat sank during the rescue operation, and Anselmo Pestana, the Spanish government representative in the Canary Islands, indicated that the migrants had been at sea for at least two days without food. He noted that panic appeared to have ensued just before the vessel capsized, with challenging conditions of wind and poor visibility complicating rescue efforts.
Among the deceased was a child aged between 12 and 15 years, according to the NGO Walking Borders, which provides assistance to migrants. Meanwhile, three other boats successfully reached the Canary Islands during the same night, bringing in 208 migrants.
Calm seas and mild winds characteristic of late summer in the Atlantic off West Africa have contributed to a renewed influx of migrants, as reported by local authorities this month. The number of migrants crossing from Africa to the Canary Islands has surged by 154% this year, with 21,620 individuals making the perilous journey in the first seven months, according to data from the European Union’s border agency, Frontex.
Historically, the deadliest shipwreck in the past 30 years of crossings to the Canary Islands occurred in 2009 off Lanzarote, resulting in 25 fatalities.
