Photo credit: Cyprus Mail
At least nine migrants died, and forty-eight were reported after their boat capsized on Saturday near the Spanish island of El Hierro while they were attempting to cross to the Canary Islands.
NTD reports that the emergency services were able to rescue twenty-seven of the eighty-four migrants who were trying to reach the Spanish coast.
Spanish authorities revealed that the migrants were from Mali, Mauritania, and Somalia.
The rescue team received a call shortly after midnight from the boat, which was located around four miles east of El Hierro. They said the boat sank during the rescue.
Manuel Barroso, the head of Spain’s maritime rescue services said, “All migrants on board concentrated in the same side of the boat during the rescue, which made it capsize. Everyone fell into the sea.”.
He added that wind and poor visibility made the rescue difficult.
Nine bodies have been recovered, and the emergency services are still searching for the others.
Three other boats carrying 208 migrants reached the Canary Islands during the night.
Calm seas and gentle winds associated with late summer in the Atlantic Ocean have prompted a renewed surge of migrants. The route from Africa to the islands has seen a 154% surge in migrants this year, with 21,620 migrants crossing in the first seven months, according to data from European Union’s border agency, Frontex.
