Gambiaj.com – (La Restinga, Spain) – Five migrants have died after attempting the perilous Atlantic crossing from Barra, in The Gambia, to the Canary Islands, as more than 500 people arrived on the island of El Hierro over the weekend in three separate boats.
Four of the victims, all males aged between 15 and 35, were found aboard a canoe carrying 121 people that ran out of food, water, and fuel about 30 kilometers south of El Hierro.
The vessel, adrift after an estimated eight days at sea, was rescued on Sunday morning by the Spanish maritime rescue ship Diphda. Thirteen survivors were transferred to the Hospital Insular Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in Valverde, with at least one in serious condition due to severe hypothermia.
Upon arrival at La Restinga port, survivors told emergency workers that one of their companions had gone missing during the voyage. Later that day, a swimmer reported spotting a body floating in the bay. Rescue services recovered the remains, confirming a fifth death linked to the weekend’s arrivals.
The boat, believed to have departed from Barra in northern Gambia, was carrying migrants from The Gambia, Senegal, Mali, and Guinea-Conakry. Survivors said they had spent more than a week navigating the dangerous Canary Route, one of the world’s deadliest migration corridors.
Distressed Canoe From Jinack Island in Senegal
Earlier on Sunday, another canoe was found 30 kilometres south of El Hierro with four deceased migrants on board after it, too, had exhausted its food and fuel supplies.
Survivors of that vessel also reported an eight-day journey from Jinack Island in The Gambia, with passengers from Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Conakry, and Ivory Coast.
Those rescued from this second canoe were transported to the Temporary Foreigners’ Care Centre (CATE) in San Andrés, Valverde, where NGO personnel from Corazón Naranja – Ebrima Sonko are providing care under police supervision before their transfer to mainland facilities.
The death toll rose further on Saturday when a resident of La Restinga alerted authorities to a body floating near the coast.
Forensic teams later identified it as one of the passengers from a vessel rescued earlier that same day, which had been intercepted less than two kilometres from La Restinga with 214 people on board, including 22 women and five minors. Passengers had warned rescue personnel that one individual had gone missing during the crossing.
All five bodies recovered this weekend have been transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences at the municipal funeral home in La Frontera, where autopsies are pending.
The weekend’s tragedies unfolded as a third boat arrived late Friday night with 189 people on board, among them 19 women and four minors, including two toddlers.
That vessel also reportedly departed from Barra, The Gambia, spending seven days at sea on its 1,600-kilometer journey to La Restinga. Passengers were from The Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Conakry.
The latest arrivals highlight the escalating humanitarian crisis on the Atlantic migration route, where overcrowded boats, scarce provisions, and long periods adrift continue to result in mounting deaths.
