At least one person drowned and 16 were missing after their boat capsized in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday night some 35 kilometers from the Spanish island of Fuerteventura, a Spanish government official told reporters. the press on Thursday.

Emergency services rescued and transported some 41 people from the half-sunken boat. Coastguards found a body in the sea.

Teresa Mayans, sub-delegate of the Spanish Government in the Canary Islands, told a press conference that some survivors had reported upon arrival that 16 of their fellow travelers were missing at sea.

The Spanish islands located off the coast of West Africa have become the main destination for migrants trying to reach Europe, and last year was one of the busiest in this type of crossing in the last decade, according to data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.

A total of 22,316 migrants arrived illegally in the Canary Islands in 2021, compared to 23,271 the previous year.

The rights group Walking Borders said more than 4,400 migrants, including at least 205 children, were lost at sea trying to reach Spain in 2021, more than double the 2020 figure and the most since the group began count in 2018.

Categorized in:

World