Spanish Maritime Rescue rescued 264 people of North African origin in four boats that were heading to two islands of the Canary archipelago when they were detected by the authorities.
The first boat, which was carrying 33 men and a woman, was spotted by a sailboat when it was drifting about 18 kilometers north of the island of Lanzarote, reported the Integrated Exterior Surveillance System (SIVE) of the Civil Guard. Spanish to the Spanish Civil Guard agency. .
On Sunday afternoon, shortly before 3:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. in Lisbon), another sailboat notified the authorities that it had sighted a canoe near the island of El Hierro, from which 123 men and one woman were rescued, all of sub-Saharan origin.
During the night, the Spanish Maritime Rescue rescued another 106 people, including at least one minor, in two inflatable boats detected in the waters of the island of Lanzarote.
According to information released by the emergency services, all the migrants are in good health.
Since the beginning of the year, some 11,500 migrants have managed to cross from the African continent to the Canary Islands, according to data from the Spanish Government, made public on September 15.
According to the organization Caminando Fronteras, 978 people died venturing into the crossing.
At its shortest point, the Moroccan coast is just 100 kilometers from the Canary Islands, but most of the migrants come from further south, some from Mauritania, 1,000 kilometers away.
The number of migrants attempting to cross the Atlantic began to increase sharply from the end of 2019, when the increased presence of patrols in the Mediterranean reduced the number of crossings by this sea route.
Source: TSF
