MADRID (Reuters) – At least three people are dead and seven are missing after a boat carrying migrants in the Mediterranean capsized off the coast of southern Spain, the country’s maritime rescue service said on Friday.
Another ship issued an alert at 8 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) after spotting the semi-submerged vessel 26 nautical miles (48 km) south of Cape Sacratif in the town of Motril, the maritime service said. rescue.
Rescuers found five passengers on the boat, three of whom were already dead. The two survivors were evacuated by helicopter to hospital and are in serious condition, suffering from hypothermia.
Survivors told rescue workers there were 12 people on board when the boat left Algeria six days ago, sparking a search operation for the seven missing people. The date and location of their disappearance have not been specified, the service said.
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A plane from the European border agency Frontex is taking part in search and rescue operations, which were hampered by strong winds causing waves up to 3 meters high, the agency added.
The number of migrants arriving in Spain by boat quadrupled in the first two and a half months of this year compared to the same period the previous year, reaching 15,148 people, according to Interior Ministry data.
In 2023, 6,618 people will have lost their lives at sea while trying to reach Spain, according to the human rights group Walking Borders.
(Reporting David Latona, French version Alban Kacher, editing by Kate Entringer)
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