Dozens feared dead after migrant boat found drifting near Spain’s Canary Islands

Borja Suarez/Reuters

Dozens are feared dead after a boat carrying migrants that departed Gambia last month was found by authorities drifting off Spain’s Canary Islands late Wednesday.

Helena Maleno, the head of the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders), said that 83 of the boat’s 127 passengers had died, with four women and a baby among the victims. The passengers had embarked on the journey from the West African nation 27 days ago, she said.

Spain’s Maritime Safety and Rescue Society, also known as SASEMAR, told CNN that they had rescued a “makeshift boat” on Wednesday night that was drifting 65 nautical miles southwest of Arguineguín, a town on the south coast of Gran Canaria.

Forty-four people were rescued from the boat, SASEMAR told CNN, including three people who were in critical condition and airlifted to a local hospital. SASEMAR said that they were unable to retrieve the bodies of five other people, saying adverse weather conditions hindered the operation.

All of the people found on board were men from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the maritime authority, which said it could not confirm how many passengers the boat was carrying when it left Gambia.

A spokesperson for the Red Cross in the Canaries, which is caring for the survivors, said they came from Mali or Senegal and that some were underage.

Speaking to The Associated Press, José Antonio Rodríguez Verona said they were disoriented and dehydrated, with many collapsing or vomiting when they arrived on land. The spokesperson said they reported being stranded at sea for “many, many days,” with some estimating it had been nearly a month. They had run out provisions and fallen ill from drinking seawater.

According to Rodríguez Verona, survivors had said there were originally more than 100 people on board, including women and a baby. The bodies of those who died had been thrown in the ocean until those remaining no longer had the strength to do so.

The Canary Islands route remains the deadliest stretch of the Africa-Europe migration corridor, according to Caminando Fronteras.

The charity recorded 1,317 deaths on migration routes to Spain in just the first five months of this year, including 142 women and 129 children.

Nearly half of those deaths occurred on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands.

Fernando Clavijo, head of the Canary Islands government, said on X that it is “unbearable that lives continue to be lost” and that his government shouldn’t “normalize the face that the Atlantic continues to be a route of death.”

Clavijo added that the incident highlighted the need for a better state migration policy.

“We cannot continue managing migration from crisis to crisis. We are talking about lives and dignity,” he said.

The tragedy comes as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is under pressure over his country’s migration policies after an estimated 72,000 people crossed from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in two days in July. The mass border crossing sparked nationwide protests and a diplomatic row between Spain and Italy.

CNN’s Pau Mosquera contributed reporting.

博尔哈·苏亚雷斯/路透社

一艘载有移民的船只上个月从冈比亚出发，周三晚些时候被当局发现漂流在西班牙加那利群岛附近海域，据信数十人已经死亡。

西班牙非政府组织“行走边界”（Caminando Fronteras）负责人海伦娜·马莱诺表示，船上127名乘客中有83人遇难，其中包括4名妇女和1名婴儿。她说，这些乘客27天前从西非国家启程。

西班牙海上安全救援协会（SASEMAR）告诉 CNN，他们周三晚上救起了一艘“简易船”，该船在格兰加纳利岛南海岸的阿尔圭内金镇西南 65 海里处漂流。

南非海上救援组织SASEMAR告诉CNN，船上44人获救，其中包括3名伤势危重者，他们已被空运至当地医院。SASEMAR表示，由于恶劣天气阻碍了救援行动，他们未能找到另外5名遇难者的遗体。

据海事部门称，船上发现的所有人员均为来自撒哈拉以南非洲的男性。该部门表示，无法确认该船离开冈比亚时载有多少乘客。

负责照顾幸存者的加那利群岛红十字会发言人表示，幸存者来自马里或塞内加尔，其中一些是未成年人。

何塞·安东尼奥·罗德里格斯·维罗纳在接受美联社采访时表示，他们当时神志不清，严重脱水，许多人上岸后便晕倒或呕吐。这位发言人称，他们报告说已经在海上漂流了“很多很多天”，有人估计时间接近一个月。他们的补给已经耗尽，而且因为饮用海水而生病。

据罗德里格斯·维罗纳称，幸存者表示，船上最初有100多人，其中包括妇女和一名婴儿。遇难者的遗体被抛入大海，直到幸存者精疲力竭，再也无法继续这样做为止。

据 Caminando Fronteras 称，加那利群岛路线仍然是非洲-欧洲移民走廊中最致命的一段。

该慈善机构记录显示，仅今年前五个月，在前往西班牙的移民路线上就有 1317 人死亡，其中包括 142 名妇女和 129 名儿童。

近一半的死亡事件发生在前往加那利群岛的大西洋航线上。

加那利群岛政府首脑费尔南多·克拉维霍在X电视台表示，“生命仍在逝去，这令人难以忍受”，他的政府不应该“让大西洋继续成为死亡之路的现状正常化”。

克拉维霍补充说，这一事件凸显了制定更好的国家移民政策的必要性。

“我们不能再继续在危机中应对移民问题了。我们谈论的是生命和尊严，”他说。

这场悲剧发生之际，西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯正因其国家的移民政策承受着巨大压力。此前，据估计有7.2万人于7月两天内从摩洛哥越境进入西班牙飞地休达。此次大规模越境事件引发了全国范围的抗议活动，并导致西班牙和意大利之间的外交争端。

CNN记者保罗·莫斯奎拉对此报道亦有贡献。