Four dead, including a baby, on migrant cayuco rescued south of El Hierro

Rescue south of El Hierro

A cayuco carrying 113 people, which had left Gambia eight days earlier, was rescued in the early hours of Friday, 30 October, in waters south of the Spanish island of El Hierro. The alert reached the 112 Canarias emergency centre shortly before 23:00 on Thursday, 29 October, after two distress calls from the boat whose position was not yet fixed. Salvamento Marítimo sent the Salvamar Navia rescue boat and the Helimer 204 helicopter to search for it. The helicopter located the vessel at about 01:00, roughly 68 kilometres south of the island. Rescuers then found two bodies on board and a girl in serious condition, who was flown by helicopter to the Hospital de La Candelaria in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The boat docked at the port of La Restinga at about 04:00, where survivors received first aid from Canary health service staff and the Red Cross.

Deaths and conflicting accounts

Spanish agencies report four deaths, including a baby, while the Telegraph reported two men dead and a child in critical condition. According to EFE-based reports, the two bodies recovered on board were those of a young man and a child. Two more people were thrown into the sea by fellow passengers during the voyage, sources told EFE. The girl's father is among the dead, according to her mother, who is admitted to hospital on El Hierro. Emergency services said the boat had 115 people when it left Gambia and counted 113 at rescue, including the two bodies.

Passengers and survivors

A report compiled at the La Restinga pier by the assistance team, which EFE accessed, counted 61 minors among the 113 people on board: 54 boys and seven girls. Apart from three infants and three other children, the minors had boarded without an adult to look after them. Six survivors were hospitalised, five on El Hierro and one, the girl, in Tenerife. Other reports from the disembarkation cite eight women and eight minors among the 110 survivors, a count far below the EFE figure, and the reports do not reconcile the two.

Wider route and October arrivals

Articles present the crossing as part of a clear rise in boats reaching the Canary Islands during October. A provisional count released by the regional government puts arrivals to the islands at more than 4,000 people in the month. That regional figure covers all arrivals in October, not only this boat. The reports do not give an earlier monthly total, so the size of the increase cannot be measured from them. Eight days at sea is the length the reports give for this crossing from Gambia.