More than 80 migrants, including a baby, are feared dead after a boat carrying dozens of people drifted in the Atlantic Ocean for 27 days before being rescued near Spain’s Canary Islands.
Spanish Maritime Rescue teams located the vessel about 65 nautical miles southwest of Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, on Wednesday.
Rescuers found 44 survivors and five dead bodies on board the vessel, which is believed to have departed The Gambia in West Africa in early August.
Human rights activist Helena Maleno Garzón, founder of Spanish charity Caminando Fronteras, said 83 people had died during the journey.
However, Maritime Rescue said it could not verify the original number of people aboard the boat.
The 44 survivors, all men from sub-Saharan Africa, were rescued amid difficult weather conditions.
Maritime Rescue said strong winds of about 20 knots and waves reaching 2.5 metres made it impossible for rescuers to recover the five bodies found on the vessel.
Three of the survivors were airlifted to hospital in critical condition, while the remaining 41 were transported by sea to Gran Canaria, where they arrived in the early hours of Thursday.
Fernando Clavijo, head of the Canary Islands government, expressed concern over the continuing loss of lives along the migration route.
“It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost,” Clavijo said, adding that the Canary Islands could not accept the Atlantic becoming a “death trap”.
The Atlantic migration 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 in search of a better life in Spanish territory, despite the risks posed by rough seas, strong currents and the long distance involved.
