Lacking vessel carrying 200 migrants could have been discovered close to Gran Canaria, says Spanish rescue service

A fishing vessel with round 200 migrants on board which has been lacking for practically two weeks could have been positioned south of Gran Canaria, Spanish officers have stated.

The crew on a Spanish reconnaissance airplane noticed the vessel throughout an ongoing seek for three lacking boats.

The Spanish maritime rescue service stated it was “possible” one of many lacking vessels carrying the migrants had been discovered.

A rescue ship was on its approach to the situation, officers added.

“The plane has found a large boat with some 200 people on board, 71 miles to the south of Gran Canaria,” a spokesperson for the maritime service stated.

Migrant support group, Walking Borders, stated on Sunday the fishing vessel and one other two boats – one carrying about 65 individuals and the opposite with between 50 and 60 on board – had been lacking for about two weeks since they left Senegal to attempt to attain Spain.

Helena Maleno, of Walking Borders, stated on Monday there had been no new details about the whereabouts of the three vessels.

The situation of the migrants was unknown.

The three boats left in late June from the village of Kafountine in southern Senegal to start a journey of greater than 1,000 miles to the Canary Islands.

The Atlantic migration route, usually utilized by migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, is without doubt one of the world’s deadliest.

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In 2022, a minimum of 559 individuals died throughout makes an attempt to succeed in the Canary Islands, based on the UN’s International Organisation for Migration.

Data from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, reveals 1,135 migrants from Senegal have arrived within the Canaries to this point this yr.

The United Nations stated final month as much as 500 individuals have been lacking after an overcrowded fishing boat carrying migrants capsized within the Mediterranean Sea.

Officials stated 78 individuals had died after the vessel acquired into problem and sank 45 miles off the coast of Greece.