Canary Islands migrant boat tragedy leaves five dead, dozens feared lost

Barcelona,UPDATED: Sep 3, 2026 19:00 IST

At least five people died and dozens more were feared dead after a boat carrying West African migrants ran into trouble in the Atlantic Ocean, while 44 people were rescued and taken to Spain's Canary Islands, authorities said on Thursday.

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said one of its planes spotted a "precarious" boat drifting about 120 km south of Gran Canaria on Wednesday afternoon. Three survivors were airlifted by helicopter to a hospital on the island, while the other 41 were brought ashore by boat and reached the port of Arguinegun early on Thursday, where the Red Cross attended to them.

Jos Antonio Rodrguez Verona, a spokesperson for the Red Cross in the Canaries, said all the survivors were men, some of them underage, and were from Mali or Senegal. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, he said the survivors were disoriented and dehydrated, and many collapsed or vomited after reaching land.

Rodrguez Verona said it was difficult to get precise information because of their fragile health, but the migrants reported that they had left Gambia and had been stranded at sea for "many, many days". Some estimated they had been at sea for nearly a month. After running out of provisions, they fell ill from drinking seawater.

Survivors also told the Red Cross that more than 100 people had originally been on board, including women and a baby. As people died during the journey, their bodies were thrown into the sea until those on board no longer had the strength to do so. In an emailed statement, Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said it could not recover the remains of the five dead found inside the boat because of strong winds and waves measuring 2.5 metres high.

Separately, Helena Maleno, founder of migrant rights group Walking Borders, which tracks deaths and disappearances on migration routes to Spain, said 83 people had died on the voyage, including three women and a baby. In a post on X, Maleno said the boat had left Gambia 27 days earlier. The AP said it had contacted Maleno and Walking Borders for further details but had not yet received a response.

The Atlantic route from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands is among the deadliest paths to Europe. While arrivals in the Spanish archipelago have fallen sharply over the past year, the latest rescue underlined the dangers of the crossing, with at least five deaths confirmed, 44 survivors brought to safety and many more feared to have died.

With PTI Inputs

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