Two cayucos with nearly 300 migrants on board arrived in recent hours on the island of Iron after leaving a few days ago from somewhere on the sub-Saharan coast, according to sources from the Maritime Rescue and the Spanish Red Cross.
One of the canoes was located around 03:00, when the Civil Guard informed the Tenerife Maritime Rescue Coordination Center of a radar echo, a possible boat or cayuco, sailing 12 miles (19.3 km) from La Restinga, who was mobilized to the ‘Adhara Rescue Sea.
Once on the high seas, he located the boat and proceeded to escort it to port, where disembarkation began around 05:00. There were 86 people traveling in the canoeincluding 4 women and 4 minors, all of sub-Saharan origin, and no transfers were made to health centers.
Furthermore, on Saturday afternoon, the French Maritime Rescue Center Gris Nez informed the Spanish Rescue Center in Madrid that the French-flagged ship “Juan Thola” had sighted a canoe 46 miles (74 km) from the island from El Hierro.
Informed by the Tenerife Maritime Rescue Center, the Helimer 201 helicopter and the “Talía” maritime guard were mobilized and sent to the area. At 7:40 p.m., Marine Guards reported that they had located a dinghy and that the helicopter remained in the area until the rescue was completed.
Finally 207 sub-Saharan Africans were rescuedincluding a woman and a minor. At 10:20 p.m. they began to disembark at the port of La Restinga.
