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Boat Rescue Off Canary Islands Reveals Migrant Tragedy
Confirmed
In Short: More than 80 migrants are feared dead after a boat carrying 128 people was found drifting off Spain's Canary Islands, with 44 survivors rescued and five bodies recovered.
The bodies of five people have been recovered after a boat carrying West Africans was rescued off Spain’s Canary Islands, maritime rescue authorities have said, as an NGO warns that dozens more may have perished.
Spain’s maritime rescue service Salvamento Maritimo said on Thursday that one of its boats rescued 44 men from a boat drifting some 120km (75 miles) south of the island of Gran Canaria on Wednesday evening.
Helena Maleno, a spokesperson for the Spanish migrant aid NGO Caminando Fronteras, said on social media that 83 migrants and refugees had died, including three women and a baby girl, on a boat that left The Gambia 27 days ago.
Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo said the tragedy underscored the need for a state policy on migration, and Spanish Maritime Rescue teams located the vessel some 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria's coastal town of Arguineguín on Wednesday, finding 44 survivors and five dead bodies on board.
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- The bodies of five people have been recovered after a boat carrying West Africans was rescued off Spain’s Canary Islands, maritime rescue authorities have said, as an NGO warns that dozens more may have perished.
- Spain’s maritime rescue service Salvamento Maritimo said on Thursday that one of its boats rescued 44 men from a boat drifting some 120km (75 miles) south of the island of Gran Canaria on Wednesday evening.
- But Helena Maleno, a spokesperson for the Spanish migrant aid NGO Caminando Fronteras, said on social media that 83 migrants and refugees had died, including three women and a baby girl, on a boat that left The…
- A Salvamento Maritimo spokesperson told the AFP news agency that the other alleged victims “have not been found or rescued” and that the alternative death toll could not be confirmed.
- Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo said the tragedy underscored the need for a state policy on migration.
- A total of 5,163 migrants and refugees reached the Canaries by sea from January 1 to August 31, a 57 percent drop on the same period last year, according to interior ministry figures.
- 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.
- More than 80 migrants were feared dead after a boat carrying 128 people was found drifting off Spain's Canary Islands following 26 days at sea.