FALCON POWERS – The Spanish emergency services reported on Thursday, June 6, 2024, that hundreds of migrants who were in distress off the Canary Islands were rescued within a few hours.
The Maritime Safety and Rescue Association said that teams worked through the night to assist a total of 516 migrants who were on board five boats. Among the passengers were small children and newborns, most of them from sub-Saharan African countries. The migrants, some of whom were in critical condition, were transported to the islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and El Hierro in the Atlantic Ocean.
The passengers told the rescue workers that between 10 and 12 people had died on board one of the boats during the journey, and their bodies had been thrown into the sea.
Local Spanish media, including the newspaper La Provincia, reported that a woman had given birth while on board the boat.
The Spanish Interior Ministry said that around 21,000 migrants had arrived in Spain by sea during the first five months of this year, an increase of 136% compared to the same period last year.
