Seven people died aboard an inflatable boat located on Monday around 150 kilometers northeast of Arrecife, Lanzarote, during a day in which Spain’s Maritime Rescue services rescued 510 migrants attempting to reach the Canary Islands in eight precarious vessels.
Only two bodies were recovered from the boat. According to survivors, the other five people ended up in the Atlantic, although the circumstances remain unclear.
The Guardamar Urania rescued 132 survivors at around 5:20 a.m. and took them to Lanzarote. The group included 120 men and 12 women.
Between Sunday night and midday Monday, four boats were assisted in waters near Lanzarote, while four cayucos reached El Hierro. The first rescue involved a cayuco carrying 107 people, including five women and children, located nine kilometers from La Restinga.
During the early morning, the Salvamar Acrux rescued a boat carrying 59 men of Maghrebi origin, including 11 minors, eight kilometers off northern Lanzarote. The Salvamar Al Nair later assisted two inflatable boats carrying 35 and 36 men respectively. Thirteen minors were among the passengers on the first of those boats.
In El Hierro, Maritime Rescue escorted three cayucos to the port of La Restinga. The first arrived at 7:45 a.m. with 90 people, including 11 women and 13 minors. Seven passengers required medical attention at El Hierro Hospital after reporting a seven-day journey from Saint Louis, Senegal.
A second cayuco reached the port at about 10:25 a.m. with 30 men who had departed from Tanji, Senegal, six days earlier. Around an hour later, a third boat arrived carrying 19 men who said they had left Dakar, Senegal, six days before.
Sources: elDiario.es.