More than 80 migrants feared dead after boat rescued off Canary Islands

More than 80 migrants, including an infant, are feared dead after a vessel that had been adrift in the Atlantic for 27 days was located off the Canary Islands. Spanish Maritime Rescue teams found the boat approximately 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria’s municipality of Arguineguín on Wednesday. They recovered 44 survivors and five bodies that remained on board. The craft is believed to have departed The Gambia in early August with 127 people aboard. Helena Maleno Garzón, founder of the Spanish foundation Caminando Fronteras, said that 83 individuals had lost their lives. Rescuers were forced to leave the five bodies they had recovered because of rough sea conditions, Maritime Rescue said. The organisation was unable to verify the original number of people on the vessel. All 44 survivors are men from sub‑Saharan Africa, according to a Maritime Rescue statement. “Once the rescue was complete, adverse wind conditions in the area - featuring 20‑knot winds and 2.5m waves - made it impossible to retrieve the 5 bodies recovered on board the vessel,” the statement added. Three of the survivors were airlifted to hospital in critical condition. The remainder were taken by sea to Gran Canaria, where they disembarked in the early hours of Thursday morning. Fernando Clavijo, head of the Canary Islands government, posted on X: “It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap.” The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands remains one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings. Each year thousands undertake the perilous journey in hopes of reaching Spanish territory, despite the hazards posed by heavy seas, strong currents and long distances.