The first three days of November have left a devastating toll on the migration route to the Canary Islands, with 55 fatalities recorded over a tragic weekend. The Spanish Maritime Rescue Service (Salvamento Marítimo) rescued 1,786 people in 29 operations, primarily in the waters near Lanzarote and El Hierro.
The most fatal incident occurred 370 kilometres south of El Hierro when, on Saturday afternoon, the merchant vessel Patria discovered a drifting dinghy Maritime Rescue was alerted and deployed the Guardamar Talía rescue boat, which arrived early Sunday morning to save the ten remaining individuals aboard the precarious vessel.
These survivors were the last to escape a dinghy that had departed from northern Mauritania nearly three weeks ago with 58 passengers on board. Tragically, 48 people died during the journey, with their bodies cast into the sea.
Later on Sunday, another tragedy struck approximately 90 kilometres northeast of Lanzarote when a rubber boat capsized. Maritime Rescue recovered five bodies from the wreckage. Seventeen passengers on the vessel survived thanks to a life raft deployed by a rescue aircraft. Additionally, 80 people were rescued from a second rubber boat in distress nearby.
In a separate operation, the Guardamar Concepción Arenal rescue boat retrieved the body of a woman who had fallen from a deflating rubber boat. Two survivors were pulled from the water, bringing the total number of rescued individuals in this incident to 54.
Ongoing Efforts Amidst Losses
Alongside these maritime tragedies, one migrant who arrived on El Hierro in a dinghy carrying 180 people died in hospital on Sunday due to health complications sustained during the perilous journey.
Over the past three days, Maritime Rescue has deployed aerial assets and crews from seven vessels to rescue people from 29 dinghies, motorboats, and rubber boats. They have transported or escorted at least 1,786 people to safety, including a minimum of 96 women and 50 minors.
The final rescue involved the Salvamar Mizar escorting the largest dinghy of the weekend, carrying 207 people, including 10 women and 19 minors, to the port of La Restinga in El Hierro at around 4:00pm.
Rescue Operations and Regional Impact
Rescue operations were carried out by crews from seven Salvamento Marítimo vessels: Guardamar Urania, Concepción Arenal, Talía, and Salvamar Adhara, Mizar, Alpheratz, and Al Nair. Since Friday, approximately 815 migrants have been disembarked in Lanzarote from 17 rescues, 754 in El Hierro from eight rescues, 157 in Fuerteventura from three vessels, and 60 in Tenerife from one dinghy.
The number of migrants arriving has surged over the weekend, with 66 rescued on Friday, 775 on Saturday across twelve vessels, and 945 on Sunday from sixteen rescues, according to provisional, unofficial counts from various sources.
The ongoing crisis highlights the perilous conditions faced by migrants attempting to reach the Canary Islands, emphasising the urgent need for comprehensive solutions to address the humanitarian and safety challenges on this migration route.
