More than 80 people, among them a baby, die in a small boat in the Canaries

BarcelonaMore than 80 people, including a baby and a girl, have died on a small boat that left Gambia 26 days ago bound for the Canary Islands with 128 occupants. The vessel was rescued this Thursday at dawn drifting south of the Canary Islands, when only 44 survivors remained on board. All are men of sub-Saharan origin. Five corpses were also located, which emergency services were unable to recover due to poor weather conditions and the urgency of evacuating three of the occupants to hospitals, according to Maritime Rescue.

The Civil Guard has confirmed to the NGO Caminando Fronteras that the vessel had markings on its hull that match those of a small boat that left Gambia on August 7 with 128 people on board, among whom were four women and a baby. The vessel was located late yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, about 65 nautical miles (120 kilometers) from the port of Arguineguín, south of the island of Gran Canaria. A Maritime Rescue plane spotted the precarious drifting boat and, immediately, the ship Guardamar Urania was dispatched, which four hours later, around 11 p.m., managed to evacuate the 44 passengers. Three of these people were evacuated directly to a hospital on the island to be treated for dehydration and disorientation, as well as symptoms of having ingested seawater, reports the 112 emergency telephone service to Efe.

Strong winds of up to 20 knots (about 37 kilometers per hour) and 2.5-meter-high waves made it impossible to recover the five corpses, which were in an advanced state of decomposition. The 41 migrants entered the port a few minutes before five in the morning. If it were confirmed that 80 people have died, it would be one of the shipwrecks with the highest death toll in the more than 30 years of the Canary route. The first documented tragedy dates back to 1999, when nine young migrants died near Fuerteventura.

According to Caminando Fronteras, which monitors migratory traffic through communications from migrants and their families, as of May, 635 people had died on the Atlantic route—between the west African coast and the Canary Islands—this year, representing just under half of the 1,317 recorded by the NGO across all routes arriving in Spain. Although the Canary Islands route has reduced the number of vessels by 72% and deaths by 57% over the last year, it still remains the deadliest for migrants attempting to reach the European Union. According to Caminando Fronteras, for every 100 people who reach a Canary port, 21 die at sea.

Clavijo's reaction

Following the new tragedy on the Atlantic route, the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has said that the archipelago "cannot get used to or normalize the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a route of death" and has called for a State migration policy and for Europe to "assume its responsibility" for so many deaths. "It is unbearable that lives continue to be lost. What we are experiencing in the Canary Islands and these days also in Ceuta once again highlights a reality: Spain needs a State migration policy, and Europe must assume its responsibility," he said.