Four women and three minors died when a boat carrying more than 150 people capsized in El Hierro.

BarcelonaThis Wednesday, the Canary Islands experienced the umpteenth example of the migration drama. canoe A boat with dozens of people on board capsized this morning off the island of El Hierro as it approached the port of La Restinga to disembark. The vessel was carrying more than 100 people, including children, and Canarian authorities have confirmed seven fatalities: four women, a 16-year-old girl, and two five-year-old girls.

The boat, estimated to have been carrying around 160 people, collapsed a few meters from the dock as migrants gathered at one end to try to board a Maritime Rescue boat that was assisting them. In addition to the deceased, there are also several seriously injured. This includes a 3-year-old boy, who was taken to a hospital on the same island, as well as another 3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, who were evacuated by helicopter to Tenerife. Four other children were treated at the scene for drowning and were later referred to the hospital in El Hierro.

During the first hours after the events, the alleged disappearance of a baby who was also traveling to the canoe, but the Civil Guard later reported that she was one of the five-year-olds among the victims, and that she died because they could not revive her. The 16-year-old boy's life could not be saved either, despite being taken to the hospital after the incident.

Images of the moment the boat capsized, which were captured live by the cameras of Radio Televisión Canaria, show how the shipwrecked people desperately tried to reach the Maritime Rescue vessel, which had towed them to the port to facilitate disembarkation. Dock workers, fishermen and members of the port's diving clubs joined the rescue efforts, as well as members of the National Police.

This is not the first time a similar situation has occurred in El Hierro. In September 2024, a canoe about seven miles from the coast, with a death toll of nine people, 48 missing, and only 27 survivors. Last February, migrants traveling in a small boat, which had also been towed to the port of La Restinga, also fell into the water. However, on that occasion, all 84 passengers were rescued alive.

This Wednesday's incident is the first. canoe arriving on the island after nearly two weeks of a strike on the so-called Atlantic route. This Tuesday, in fact, a group of MEPs visiting the area warned of a "tense calm" in the archipelago and predicted that the arrival of migrants would continue in the coming months.

In statements to the media, the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, described the event as a "genuine tragedy" and warned that we are witnessing "the harshest face of migration, which affects children." In this regard, he called for a "measurement" of the magnitude of the tragedy unfolding on the Canary Islands' coasts and demanded "decisive intervention" from the European Union.