In an unfortunate incident, at least nine migrants died while 48 others went missing after their boat capsized early on Saturday near the Spanish island of El Hierro, rescue services said. According to rescue services, this could be the deadliest such incident in 30 years of such crossings to the Canary Islands.
They added that the emergency services were able to rescue 27 out of 84 migrants who were trying to reach the Spanish coast. According to Spanish authorities, the migrants were from Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. Shortly after midnight local time, the rescue team received a call from the boat, located around four miles east of El Hierro. They added that the boat sank during the rescue, they said.
"All the migrants on board concentrated on the same side of the boat during the rescue, which made it capsize. Everyone fell into the sea," said Manuel Barroso, head of Spain's maritime rescue services. He added that the rescue has been challenging as gusty wind and poor visibility made the rescue extremely difficult.
Nine bodies recovered
So far, nine bodies have been recovered and the emergency services were still searching for the others. Meanwhile, three other boats carrying 208 migrants, reached the Canary Islands during the night. In some 30 years of migrant crossings to the islands, the deadliest shipwreck recorded to date occurred in 2009 off the island of Lanzarote where 25 people died.
Migration rises this year
Local authorities this month said that calm seas and gentle winds associated with late summer in the Atlantic Ocean off the Western African coast have led to the recent surge in migrants' movement. The Canary Islands has a population of about 2.2 million. The route from Africa to the Canary Islands has seen a 154 per cent rise in migrants this year. In the first seven months, 21,620 migrants have crossed the islands, as stated by the European Union's border agency Frontex's data.
(With inputs from agencies)
