At three in the morning, the telephone rang at the small hospital in El Hierro. A canoe had capsized just six kilometers from the island and Salvamento was struggling to get the migrants out of the water. Health workers prepared the center against the clock, thinking dozens of patients would arrive, but only three arrived. ”Aren’t they going to bring someone else? Is there no one else who survived?” they wondered. “They were stunned, super sad. Completely devastated,” said emergency doctor Inmaculada Mora on the other end of the line. The workers already felt the great tragedy, which ended up being the worst recorded on the coasts of the Canary Islands and which left only 27 survivors.
Among the three patients were two Malian brothers aged 18 and 30. They left Nouadhibou, Mauritania, together. Food and water ran out on the fourth day. The engine battery also died, leaving 90 people adrift. On the sixth day, they saw more than 40 people falling into darkness. Now safe and sound, they recognize that learning to swim in the rivers of their country saved them from death. Hospital staff have already informed the competent authorities that the two survivors are part of the family, so that they can be accommodated in the same resource.
The bodies of nine people have been found and great efforts are being made to search by land, sea and air for 54 other migrants, but hope of finding other bodies is fading as the hours pass. The possibility that the remains of the missing will rise to the surface decreases due to the great depth of the area in which the shipwreck occurred, as explained by the government delegate to the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana. Ocean currents constitute an additional difficulty. So far, Maritime Rescue has only found a backpack in the wreck area.
On the morning of the disaster, hospital staff kept waiting for new survivors to arrive, but they did not show up. “A lot of them don’t know how to swim. For some, it is even the first time they have seen the sea. They do not wear a life jacket either and spend entire days without moving. It is very difficult for them to stay in the water for a while until they are rescued,” the doctor explains. Although she acknowledges that she and her companions are devastated, she can’t help but think of the rescue sailors who tried to save the migrants. “They must be bad,” he insists.
Of the 27 survivors, only three passed through the island’s hospital. They had symptoms of hypothermia and trauma. “The three men were hypothermic and wet after spending the night in the sea,” explains the health worker. Two of them have already been released. In the center, only the eldest of the two Malian brothers remains with five other migrants from different cayucos. The 30-year-old worked as a baker in his native country, mired in armed conflict for decades. He is now progressing favorably, according to the healthcare provider who treats him. “He is calm, but he has not yet spoken to his family,” specifies the emergency doctor.
In his same room, a 17-year-old boy is still recovering from the physical and mental consequences of his trip. ”He arrived the day before the shipwreck from Gambia. He had been at sea for nine days and four or five without drinking water,” explains the doctor. The miner “does not know what happened to him, but he lost his mind.” His traveling companions had to tie his hands and feet to prevent him or the other occupants from being put in danger. “He has significant infected wounds on his wrists and his hands are completely stiff. “You can’t stretch them,” explains Inmaculada Mora.
Meanwhile, new canoes continue to arrive at the La Restinga quay. This Monday, two boats carrying 77 and 35 people were rescued, including several minors. As Efe reports, the first group was made up of four women, three minors and 70 men and was 27 kilometers from El Hierro. The second boat was found nine kilometers from the coast and among the occupants were nationals of Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea-Conakry. Survivors told emergency services they left Nouadhibou, Mauritania, four days ago. The same point from which the crushed canoe left.
One man had to be hospitalized immediately for severe hypothermia. “He still hasn’t regained consciousness. “His temperature is 28 degrees,” specifies the doctor. At El Hierro Hospital, the meeting room has already been prepared in case another disaster strikes. “I hope we don’t have to use it,” Mora says.
