GRAN CANARIA, Spain, April 26 (Reuters) – The sinking of a boat carrying migrants left one dead and 26 missing off Spain’s Canary Islands, the Spanish coast guard told Reuters on Tuesday.
The coastguard managed to rescue 34 people after the boat capsized on Monday about 135 miles (217.26 km) off the southern tip of Gran Canaria.
A Spanish Coastguard aircraft spotted the dinghy in distress and was assisted by two merchant vessels and a helicopter until a Spanish rescue vessel arrived.
The rescued migrants, all sub-Saharan, arrived at Arguineguin port in Gran Canaria around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the coastguard said.
Authorities were alerted on April 24 that a canoe had left Cap Boujdour in Western Sahara — a disputed territory claimed by Morocco — with 60 migrants on board.
Around 4,400 people drowned at sea trying to reach Spain last year, according to a monitoring group. A total of 22,316 migrants arrived by boat in the Canary Islands in 2021. (Report by Borja Suarez and Silvio Castellanos, written by Christina Thykjaer; French version Dina Kartit, edited by Kate Entringer)
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