Four dead and 19 hospitalized after being rescued from a cayuco
The nineteen irregular immigrants rescued yesterday (Sunday) from a cayuco that was drifting 220 kilometres south of El Hierro, in which four other deceased were also in the boat, have been admitted to various hospitals in Tenerife, after being saved by Maritime Rescue. All are men of sub-Saharan origin and there are 14 in a moderate state, three severely ill and two mild according to reports.
The cayuco was located by a fishing boat that was sailing through the area and alerted of its presence, while trying themselves to help those in trouble. Crew of the fishing vessel passed water and food to the occupants and remained in the area until the arrival of rescue services, according to emergency services.
They indicated that the occupants of the boat were faint and barely conscious as a result of the crossing, which at first suggested that the number of deaths was higher, in fact, eleven deaths were reported on board the cayuco at first.
After receiving the alert, a Maritime Rescue helicopter was dispatched and rescued six of the occupants as quickly as they could, two of whom were in a serious condition and four of moderate prognosis. Shortly after, another rescue helicopter transferred ten more immigrants, one in serious condition, to Tenerife.
Later, a third helicopter, from the Air Rescue Service (SAR), rescued three other people, one in moderate condition and two mild. They are joined by the four deceased, who were transferred by the Salvamar Adhara rescue boat to the port of La Restinga, in El Hierro, arriving at 2.30pm yesterday afternoon.
The four people that died on this boat brings the official number of victims of the ‘Canary Route’ to 47 since the beginning of 2021. It is one of the most dangerous routes due to the forces of currents and tides, as well as because, if the boats are not located in time and they lose the reference to where the islands are, they end up in the Atlantic lost.
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This risk is greater in the case of the cayucos that depart from Mauritania and Senegal, as is speculated to have been in this case. The ones that set sail from the Saharawi coasts have an advantage as they are much closer to the archipelago.
Yesterday, after learning what had happened, the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, tweeted that “we are facing a new tragedy that the vast majority of people, the non-xenophobic, regret."