Ship Strands After Traversing 'Skeleton Route', At Least 83 Dead

A tragedy has struck the migration route to Europe after a vessel carrying migrants from Gambia was found adrift off the coast of the Canary Islands, Spain. Dozens of people are presumed dead after the ship remained stranded at sea for almost one month.

Helena Maleno, head of the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras, stated that 83 of approximately 127 passengers on the vessel have died. She noted that the migrants had departed from Gambia around 27 days prior.

“Four women and one baby are among the victims,” Maleno said, as reported by CNN International on Friday.

The Spanish Maritime Safety and Rescue Agency (SASEMAR) announced that 44 people were rescued from an “emergency vessel” on Wednesday night. The ship was located approximately 65 nautical miles or 120 kilometres southwest of Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, while three survivors in critical condition had to be airlifted to a hospital.

SASEMAR stated that severe weather conditions prevented officials from recovering the bodies of five other individuals. Maritime authorities have yet to confirm the exact number of passengers when the vessel departed from Gambia, although survivors claim the initial number exceeded 100 people.

The Canary Islands Red Cross stated that the rescued survivors originated from Mali or Senegal, with some being minors. Red Cross spokesperson José Antonio Rodríguez Verona noted that the migrants arrived in a state of disorientation and dehydration, while others had fainted and were vomiting.

“They said they had been adrift at sea for days,” Rodríguez Verona told The Associated Press. Their food and water supplies had run out, and some fell ill after being forced to drink seawater.

According to Caminando Fronteras, survivors revealed that the bodies of previous victims were thrown into the sea as their condition worsened. The NGO noted that at least 1,317 people have died on the migration route to Spain during the first five months of this year, including 142 women and 129 children, with nearly half of the deaths occurring on the Atlantic route towards the Canary Islands.

The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, condemned the tragedy and urged the Spanish government to improve its migration policies. This plea comes amid pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez following a surge of approximately 72,000 people crossing from Morocco to Ceuta in just two days this July.

“We cannot continue to handle migration with a crisis-by-crisis approach. We are talking about lives and dignity,” he stated.