Spanish authorities rescued 44 survivors from a precarious boat carrying 127 people, including a baby.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service confirmed that more than 80 people, including a baby, died during the 27-day journey of a precarious boat that left Gambia for the Atlantic Canary Islands with 127 people on board.
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The migrant boat was assisted early Thursday while drifting south of the Canary Islands, when only 44 survivors, all men, as well as five bodies, two women and a baby, remained on board.
The Maritime Rescue Service said the boat was located by one of its aircraft on Wednesday afternoon, 120 kilometers from the Gran Canaria island, and received assistance from the Urania coast guard vessel at midnight. Rescue teams were forced to leave the five bodies on the boat because of rough seas.
Security forces confirmed to the Spanish NGO Walking Borders that the boat had markings on its hull matching those of a vessel that left Gambia on Aug. 7 with 127 people, including four women and a baby.
Spain Rescues Dozens of Migrants Off Canary Islands | Asia One News
Spanish authorities have rescued dozens of migrants off the Canary Islands, highlighting the ongoing risks faced by people attempting to reach the islands by sea.#Asiaone #AsiaOneNews #Spain #CanaryIslands… pic.twitter.com/XcBCMjbuoS
— ASIA ONE NEWS (@AsiaOne_News) September 3, 2026
This information is consistent with the survivors’ testimony. They told the Red Cross that they had left for the Canary Islands with more than 100 people, many of whom died during the journey.
The Maritime Rescue Service had to send a helicopter to urgently evacuate three of the boat’s survivors to several hospitals because of their poor health.
The others reached land exhausted and barely able to stand. Members of the humanitarian team that treated them said they collapsed onto the table when police sat them down to record their names and places of origin.
Several migrants were also sent to hospitals after disembarking because they were suffering from dehydration and disorientation, as well as symptoms indicating they had drunk seawater. All the survivors are men from Gambia and Mali.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
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