MADRID: A boat carrying 231 migrants from Africa has reached Spain’s Canary Islands and it is the largest number ever to dock in one go in the Atlantic archipelago, according to German news agency (dpa) on Monday.
Emergency services said the boat arrived on Sunday evening in Gran Canaria. Three of the migrants were taken to hospital due to minor health problems, but were now doing well. Among the migrants were 13 women and 58 minors, they said.
The boat’s occupants said they had set sail from Gambia, TV channel RTVE reported. The crossing took 11 days and those on board were citizens of Gambia, Senegal, Mali and Guinea. The shortest distance between Gambia and Gran Canaria is more than 1,500 kilometres.
More and more migrant boats have been arriving on the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. According to the latest survey by the Ministry of the Interior in Madrid, there were almost 31,000 migrant arrivals this year up to Sept 30. That is more than twice as many as in the same period last year as governments clamped down on people smugglers on other routes to the EU.
- Bernama, dpa
