Wooden boat capsized

Many dead: humanitarian disaster off the Canary Islands

There is no trace of dozens of refugees ...

(Bild: AFP/Antonio SEMPERE)

Dozens of migrants are believed to have died in the sinking of a wooden boat off the coast of the Canary Island of El Hierro. According to the Spanish maritime emergency services, there is still no trace of at least 48 missing people. 

Nine bodies were recovered after the accident on Saturday night. Only 27 of the at least 84 occupants were rescued, including four minors.

The search work was resumed after daybreak. Three ships and three helicopters were deployed, the maritime emergency service announced on X. However, the hope of being able to rescue some of the missing alive dwindled rapidly. Spokespersons for the emergency services had already admitted on Saturday that hopes were minimal.

The open wooden boat carrying at least 84 migrants from Africa capsized early on Saturday morning at around one o'clock during a rescue operation just under four nautical miles (a good seven kilometers) south of La Restinga on the westernmost Canary Island of El Hierro.

Boat capsized as rescue approached
The accident occurred when too many migrants moved to one side of the boat as a rescue cruiser approached, according to reports. It must be assumed that the death toll could be around 60 if no one else is rescued.

The rescued people were said to be completely exhausted, dehydrated and hypothermic. Anselmo Pestana, the representative of the central government in the Canary Islands, said that the people in the ill-fated boat had been without food and water for two days. They had to drink salt water.

The desperate situation probably led to panic in the overcrowded boat when the occupants saw the rescue ship in the middle of the night. Survivors said that the boat had set sail a week ago from Nouadhibou in western Mauritania, around 750 kilometers from El Hierro as the crow flies.

Numbers have risen significantly
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), almost 30,000 refugees have already reached the Canary Islands from Africa this year. This was significantly more than in the same period last year. The boats depart from the coast of West Africa between Guinea in the south and Morocco in the north.

The Spanish aid organization Caminando Fronteras estimates that around 4,800 people drowned or died of exhaustion on the long crossing between January and the end of May.