According to Spanish emergency services, a small boat carrying dozens of refugees and migrants capsized while approaching the port in one of Spain’s Canary Islands, killing four women and three girls.
According to local media reports, there were reports that the small vessel appeared to be crowded with more than 100 people on Wednesday. People were rescued from the water by Spanish rescuers and Red Cross personnel.
More than 100 people may be on the boat, according to Red Cross spokesman Alexis Ramos, who was unable to give a figure for the number of those who were not.
The boat tipped over as rescuers began removing minors from the island of El Hierro’s dock, according to Spain’s maritime rescue service. The boat was initially located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from shore, according to the service.
The boat’s abrupt movement caused it to tip and then turn over, dumping the passengers into the water, according to the service.
According to emergency services in the Canary Islands, the accident resulted in the deaths of four women, two of whom were teenagers. A girl and a boy were taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition after nearly drowning by a helicopter, according to the service.
Refugees and migrants who travel in dinghies and rubber boats unfit for long journeys in the open sea have a long history abound in the Spanish archipel, which is located off Africa’s western coast.
On a dangerous crossing of Africa over the Atlantic Ocean that leads to Europe, a number of people have died.
The Canary Islands were reached by nearly 47 000 people who crossed the border last year. The majority of the passengers were from Mauritania’s coast, and many of them were Moroccans, Malis, Senegal, and Morocco.
Source: Aljazeera
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