Canary Islands migrant boat tragedy: Five dead, dozens missing after Atlantic crossing

At least five people have died and dozens more are missing after a boat carrying migrants from West Africa ran into distress in the Atlantic Ocean near Spain's Canary Islands. Spanish authorities rescued 44 survivors on Wednesday and Thursday, but survivors' accounts suggest the vessel originally carried far more people.

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said one of its aircraft spotted a “precarious” boat drifting about 120 kilometres south of Gran Canaria on Wednesday afternoon. Three survivors were airlifted by helicopter to a hospital on the island. The remaining 41 migrants were brought ashore early Thursday at the port of Arguineguín, where they received care from the Red Cross.

All survivors are men, some of them minors, and are believed to be from Mali or Senegal, according to José Antonio Rodríguez Verona, a spokesperson for the Red Cross in the Canary Islands. Speaking to The Associated Press, Mr. Rodríguez Verona said the survivors were disoriented and dehydrated, with many collapsing or vomiting on reaching land. Given their frail condition, precise details were difficult to obtain, but the migrants reported that they had left Gambia and had been stranded at sea for “many, many days.” Some estimated they had been adrift for nearly a month.

The survivors told Red Cross workers that more than 100 people had originally been on the boat, including women and a baby. As people perished during the journey, their bodies were thrown overboard until the remaining passengers no longer had the strength to do so.

In a statement, Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said it could not retrieve the remains of five people found inside the boat because of strong winds and waves of up to 2.5 metres.

Separately, Helena Maleno, founder of the migrant rights group Walking Borders, reported that 83 people had died during the voyage, including three women and a baby. In a post on X, Ms. Maleno said the boat had left Gambia 27 days ago. Her organisation is frequently contacted by relatives of missing migrants and often relays distress calls to Spanish authorities. The Associated Press has reached out to Ms. Maleno and Walking Borders for further comment but has not yet received a response.

The West African Atlantic route to Spain's Canary Islands is one of the deadliest migratory routes to Europe. While the number of arrivals to the archipelago has fallen in the past year, thousands of people have died or gone missing in recent years on this route, with some migrant boats drifting far across the Atlantic to the Americas.