More than 80 migrants feared dead after boat rescued off Canary Islands

More than 80 people, including a baby, are feared to have died in a boat which was adrift in the Atlantic Ocean for 27 days.

Spanish Maritime Rescue teams located the vessel some 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria’s coastal town of Arguineguín on Wednesday and found 44 survivors, with five dead bodies also on board.

The boat is believed to have departed The Gambia in West Africa in early August with 127 occupants on board. Human rights activist Helena Maleno Garzón, founder of Spanish charity Caminando Fronteras, said 83 people had lost their lives.

Rescuers were forced to leave the five bodies they found due to the rough sea conditions, Maritime Rescue said.

The organisation was unable to verify how many people were originally on board.

The 44 survivors are men from sub-Saharan Africa, Maritime Rescue said in a statement.

“Once the rescue was complete, adverse weather conditions in the area – featuring 20-knot winds and 2.5m waves – made it impossible to recover the five bodies found on board the vessel,” it added.

Three of the survivors were airlifted to hospital in critical condition.

The rest were transported by sea to Gran Canaria, where they disembarked in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Fernando Clavijo, head of the Canary Islands government, posted on X: “It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap.”

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings.

Thousands of migrants attempt the perilous journey each year seeking to reach Spanish territory despite the risks posed by rough seas, strong currents and long distances.