80 PEOPLE INCLUDING BABY FOUND DEAD oN MIGRANT BOAT FROM GAMBIA

Spanish and British newspapers yesterday reported that more than 80 people, including a baby, have died in a migrant boat that left The Gambia 26 days ago with 128 occupants headed for the Canary Islands.

The boat was rescued yesterday at dawn while drifting south of the Canary Islands, when only 44 survivors remaining on board. All are men of sub-Saharan origin. Five bodies were also located that emergency services were unable to recover due to poor weather conditions and the urgency of evacuating three of the occupants to hospitals, according to Maritime Rescue.

The Spanish Civil Guard confirmed to the NGO Caminando Fronteras that the vessel had markings on the hull that match those of a boat that left The Gambia on 7th August with 128 people on board, among whom were four women and a baby.

The vessel was located in the mid-afternoon yesterday, Wednesday, about 65 nautical miles (120 kilometres) from the port of Arguineguín, in the south of the island of Gran Canaria.

A Maritime Rescue plane spotted the precarious boat drifting and, immediately, the Guardamar Urania was dispatched, which four hours later, around 11pm, managed to evacuate the 44 passengers. Three of these people were evacuated directly to a hospital on the island to be treated for dehydration, disorientation, as well as symptoms of having drunk seawater.

Strong winds, of up to 20 knots (about 37 kilometres per hour) and 2.5-meter-high waves made it impossible to recover the five bodies, which were in an advanced state of decomposition. The 41 migrants entered the port a few minutes before five this past dawn.

According to Caminando Fronteras, which monitors migratory traffic through communications from migrants and their families, up until the month of May, this year had died on the Atlantic route—between the west African coast and the Canary Islands—it has claimed the lives of 635 people, which represents just under half of the 1,317 counted by the NGO adding up all the routes that reach Spain. Although the Canary route has reduced the number of vessels by 72% and deaths by 57% in the last year, it still remains the deadliest for migrants trying to reach the European Union. According to Caminando Fronteras, for every 100 people who reach a Canary port, 21 die at sea.

Source: The Standard