BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A boat carrying migrants capsized within reach of shore as it arrived at Spain’s Canary Islands on Wednesday and four women and three girls drowned, authorities said.
In the chaotic scene at El Hierro’s port, survivors clung to ropes and life preservers tossed by rescuers.
Spain’s maritime rescue service said the boat tipped over as rescuers started removing young people onto a rescue craft positioned between the migrant one and the quay. The movement of people on the boat caused it to turn over, the service said.
Local media said the small boat appeared to be packed with over 100 people.
A helicopter evacuated two other children, a girl and a boy, to a hospital in serious condition after they nearly drowned, the service added.
“The drama witnessed on El Hierro should move us all, (those) lives were lost in an attempt to find a better future,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on social media.
The Spanish archipelago located off Africa’s western coast has for years been a main route for migrants who risk their lives in dinghies and rubber boats unfit for long journeys in the open sea. Thousands have been known to die on the way to European territory.
Nearly 47,000 people who made the crossing last year reached the archipelago, surpassing previous records for a second time. Most were citizens of Mali, Senegal and Morocco, with many boarding boats to Spain from the coast of Mauritania.
The arrivals include thousands of unaccompanied minors.
Some 10,800 people had arrived via the Atlantic to the Canary Islands by mid-May, down by 34% compared to the same period in 2024.
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