A call for help in the middle of the night sets off all the alarms. A new canoe was searching for its last option to survive El Hierro before being lost forever in the ocean. At 00:17, the Guardamar Concepción Arenal, from Maritime Rescue, came to the rescue of a group of 90 people. The night was thus added to the humanitarian days which have continued to take place in recent weeks, coinciding with the calm season in the Atlantic. The tranquility suddenly disappeared when, upon sighting the rescue ship, the migrants, desperate to save their lives, crowded into a corner of the boat, causing it to capsize.
“This is the most critical moment, the meeting with the canoe,” says the government delegate to the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana. Amidst the darkness, the rescue team managed to rescue 27 survivors and pull the lifeless bodies of nine other people from the water. More than 50 people remain at sea, who left Nouadhibou, Mauritania, six days ago aboard a fiber canoe.
Food and water had run out two days earlier, forcing the migrants to drink sea water. These circumstances “favored” panic and everyone got up at the same time at the time of the rescue. “These are people who have been at sea for six days, with numb muscles and many of them did not know how to swim. You have a few minutes to save. It’s almost a miracle to have saved these 27 lives,” declared the government delegate.
Most of the survivors were transferred to the Temporary Care Center for Foreigners (CATE) in Valverde. Two people had to be transferred directly to the island’s hospital aboard the rescue helicopter. Three others were admitted for severe hypothermia after arriving at La Estaca port. Furthermore, according to data provided by the central government, four minors were identified among those rescued.
In addition to the sunken canoe, in the last 48 hours two other boats with 131 and 59 people on board reached the most remote territory of the archipelago. The president of the Cabildo de El Hierro, Alpidio Armas, insists that the island is experiencing “the greatest migratory drama that we have witnessed” and, in statements collected by Efe, he demanded understanding and means human and material resources to remedy this. “a humanitarian emergency of this magnitude”.
Now all efforts are focused on the search for the rest of the victims, who could number more than fifty. Two maritime guards, two maritime guards and a maritime rescue helicopter have been activated, the helicopter of the Civil Guard and another from the Government of the Canary Islands, a Benemérita boat, four divers and four land patrols that observe the coast in case “the remains of some people.
The Department of Justice of the Government of the Canary Islands will also send reinforcements to El Hierro to be able to carry out autopsies in the event of the appearance of bodies, which could begin to appear “from the second day”, according to statements by Anselme Pestana.
The Canary Islands government called an emergency meeting this Saturday to deal with the shipwreck. After meeting with several members of his executive, regional president Fernando Clavijo said emergency teams do not expect to recover more bodies for three days, when they can begin to float. The leader of the Canarian Coalition stressed that the tragedy cannot become just another “sad event” and urged us to find solutions to manage immigration. “Today is a very sad day for all of them, but also for the Canary Islands and for those of us who dedicate ourselves to politics, because it is further proof that we are failing and that we cannot allow it,” he said.
