Seven Migrants Die Off the Canary Islands as More Than 380 Are Rescued in a Day, Spanish Rescuers Say

At least seven people died on a boat carrying 139 people toward Spain's Canary Islands after a storm hit the vessel, maritime rescue services said on Monday — two bodies were found aboard when the coast guard rescued 132 people about 150 km off Lanzarote, and five others had died during the crossing and been thrown into the sea.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk2 November 20263 min readRead in all 3 languages

MADRID — At least seven migrants died off Spain's Canary Islands while more than 380 people were rescued on Monday, the country's maritime rescue services said, in the latest tragedy on the Atlantic crossing from West Africa.

Source: Reuters

Two deceased people were found aboard a migrant boat when the coast guard rescued 132 people on Monday, 150 km (94 miles) off Lanzarote, the rescue services said. During the same journey, five other migrants had died and been thrown into the sea, authorities added.

Al Jazeera reported that the boat was carrying 139 people bound for the Canary Islands when a storm hit, and that rescuers reached the vessel early on Monday about 150 km from Arrecife, on Lanzarote.

Source: Al Jazeera

The seven deaths were only part of a day of rescues across the archipelago. Another 250 migrants were rescued by coast guard boats off Lanzarote and the island of El Hierro earlier on Monday, authorities said, and on Sunday 107 migrants were rescued off El Hierro.

One of the world's deadliest crossings

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world's deadliest migration crossings. Thousands attempt the journey each year in overcrowded boats despite rough seas, strong currents and long distances, and arrivals tend to pick up in the autumn months, when conditions are generally calmer.

"The Atlantic route is once again claiming lives, this time off the coast of Lanzarote. Behind each one is a life, a story, and a family," Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo said in a message on X.

Migrant arrivals in the archipelago have fallen 18% year on year to 11,527 people, according to the office of the Spanish government's representative in the Canary Islands, but crossings increased sharply in October, putting additional pressure on reception and emergency services on some of the islands, particularly the smaller and less densely populated ones.

Sources