At least nine people have died and 48 are missing after the sinking of a migrant boat near El Hierro, one of the islands of the Spanish Canary archipelago, on the night of Friday to Saturday, September 28, announced the Spanish maritime emergency services. In total, 84 people were present in this canoe, the same source states. 27 people were rescued after the call for help received around 12:15 a.m., 9 bodies were found and 48 people were being searched, according to this press release.
Thousands of migrants have lost their lives in recent years trying to travel the dangerous Atlantic route to reach Europe from Africa, mainly through the Spanish Canary Islands, aboard overcrowded and often dilapidated ships. In early September, the sinking of a migrant boat trying to reach Europe had already left at least 39 dead off the coast of Senegal.
At the end of August, Spain signed agreements with Mauritania and Gambia to strengthen cooperation against the trafficking of illegal immigrants to Europe and in favor of regulated migration, during a tour of the President of the Spanish Government. As of August 15, 22,304 immigrants had arrived in the Canary Islands since the beginning of the year, compared to 9,864 in the same period in 2023, an increase of 126%. For Spain as a whole, the increase is 66% (from 18,745 to 31,155).
“Death Road”
This maritime route between Africa and the Canary Islands is an authentic “death road”because the crossings are made aboard overcrowded boats that are poorly equipped to withstand the currents, which are very strong in this area of the Atlantic and cause numerous shipwrecks. Some boats leave from places a thousand kilometers from the Canary Islands.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, at least 4,857 people have died or disappeared on this sea route since 2014.
But the real figure is undoubtedly much higher. Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish NGO that helps immigrants and evaluates the number of victims based on the testimonies of survivors, estimates that 18,680 people paid with their lives for their desire to go to Europe.
