Nine people died and 48 are missing after the canoe in which they tried to reach to the island of El Hierro capsized off the coast of the municipality of Valverde, as reported by Maritime Rescue sources.
The events occurred on Friday evening, around 00:15, when the Emergency and Security Coordination Center (Cecoes) 112 informed the Tenerife Maritime Rescue Coordination Center.
Rescue controllers immediately activated the Concepción Arenal Maritime Guard, which located 4 miles south of La Estaca Harbor (El Hierro) a canoe which had capsized, its occupants falling into the sea, managing to rescue 27 survivors.
▶️At 00:14 Canary Islands time, CECOES informs the Tenerife Rescue Center of the receipt of the call from a cayuco with 84 people.
▶️The Guardamar Concepción Arenal locates the cayuco 4 miles south of La Estaca. The boat capsizes. 27 people were rescued. THE… pic.twitter.com/cvhJrnmVDo
– MARITIME RESCUE (@salvamentogob) September 28, 2024
Apparently, the cayuco expired during rescue operations because its occupants were concentrated on one side. Added to this was the difficulty of the rescue, which took place at night and in unfavorable weather conditions, with wind gusts of around 20 knots.
During the rescue, rescuer Adhara managed to recover nine bodies and efforts are on to trace 48 missing people. The 27 survivors were assisted in the port of La Estaca by the medical device and three of them were transferred to the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes Hospital, one with hypothermia, another with dehydration and the third with trauma to the the shoulder of moderate nature. .
The search operation is made up of the maritime guard Mizar, the maritime guard Callíope, the ship Heroínas de Sálvora and the Cuco helicopter of the Civil Guard. The Helimer 201 helicopter is expected to join the search efforts soon, having left the area after searching the area overnight, along with the Canary Islands government’s GES helicopter based in El Hierro.
