Rescuers recovered a lonely woman on an overturned small boat, which was carrying dozens of people trying to reach the Canary Islands, so they feared that about 40 migrants would die.
After a cargo ship spotted her 135 miles from the coast, a rescue helicopter carrying survivors landed at Las Palmas Airport in Gran Canaria on Tuesday. A 30-year-old woman looked exhausted and covered herself. Trembling.
Officials said the woman who was found lying next to the two bodies was severely dehydrated and “in poor condition.”
She told rescuers that she took “approximately 40 people” and started crossing the African continent.
The Coast Guard received an alert from another ship, which found the woman about 135 miles from the Spanish archipelago on the northwest coast of Africa.
A spokesperson said that the two bodies found next to her on the capsized ship were also found and brought ashore.
According to reports, the weather was not good at the time.
According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, more than 23,000 immigrants arrived in the Canary Islands last year, eight times the number of the previous year.
In the first seven months of 2021, 7,531 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands, more than double the number in the same period in 2020.
According to international organizations migrantIn 2020, 850 migrants died or disappeared on their way to the Canary Islands.
Since the strengthening of inspections on the Mediterranean route at the end of 2019, the number of immigrants arriving in the Canary Islands from dangerous crossings from North Africa has increased dramatically.
The Spanish non-governmental organization Caminando Fronteras stated that at least 1,851 people were killed while trying to cross the border last year.
