Lorraine Williamson
More than 80 people, including a baby, are believed to have died during an attempted Atlantic crossing from Gambia to the Canary Islands after a cayuco was found drifting south of Gran Canaria.
The vessel was located by a Salvamento Marítimo aircraft on Wednesday afternoon, around 120 kilometres from Gran Canaria. When rescuers reached it around midnight, only 45 survivors remained and five bodies were found aboard.
The Guardamar Urania was sent to the cayuco after it was spotted at sea and brought the survivors to the port of Arguineguín, where they arrived during the early hours of Thursday morning.
Three survivors were evacuated by helicopter in a serious condition to hospitals on Gran Canaria. Other survivors received medical attention after reaching the island.
Conditions at sea were particularly difficult, with reports of winds exceeding 20 knots and waves of around 2.5 metres. Rescuers were unable to recover the five bodies found in the cayuco because of the conditions and were forced to leave them aboard the vessel.
Vessel believed to have left Gambia with 128 people
The full scale of the tragedy began to emerge after the survivors reached Gran Canaria and authorities were able to establish a possible link between the cayuco and a vessel reported missing after leaving Gambia.
Guardia Civil confirmed to the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras that identifying marks on the cayuco matched those of a boat that had departed Gambia carrying 128 people, including four women and a baby.
That information was consistent with accounts given by survivors to Cruz Roja in Arguineguín. They said more than 100 people had begun the journey and that many had died during the crossing.
The vessel is believed to have left Gambia on 7 August, meaning those who survived had spent almost four weeks at sea before being found.
EFE reports that more than 80 people are believed to have died during the crossing. Caminando Fronteras has subsequently put the number at 83, including three women and a baby, although only the five bodies found aboard the cayuco had been located by rescuers.
Survivors found 120 kilometres from Gran Canaria
The cayuco was spotted on Wednesday evening by an aircraft operated by Salvamento Marítimo, approximately 120 kilometres south-west of Gran Canaria.
The Guardamar Urania was dispatched to the vessel and reached it around midnight before taking the survivors towards Arguineguín.
The tragedy has prompted renewed calls for action over deaths on the Atlantic migration route. Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo described the continued loss of life on the route as unbearable and called for greater involvement from both the Spanish Government and the European Union.
Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres also described the incident as an “enormous tragedy”, while Secretary of State for Migration Pilar Cancela highlighted the need for safe and orderly migration routes.
The Atlantic route from the west coast of Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the most dangerous migration routes towards Spanish territory. Journeys can become significantly longer when vessels suffer mechanical problems, run out of fuel or are pushed away from their intended course by Atlantic winds and currents.
For the survivors brought into Arguineguín on Thursday morning, the rescue brought an end to a journey lasting almost four weeks. For dozens of the people believed to have started the crossing with them, however, the cayuco never reached its intended destination.