Four people, including a baby, have died aboard a pirogue that left eight days ago for the Canary Islands from Gambia with 115 occupants and was rescued early this morning south of El Hierro, according to data provided by Maritime Rescue and by the survivors themselves.
Of the victims of this new tragedy on the Atlantic Route of migration, only two bodies have been recovered, that of a young male and a child. The other two bodies were thrown into the sea by their companions during the crossing, sources have specified.
During the rescue of the boat, a Rescue helicopter had to evacuate a girl around two years old, in serious condition, to the Hospital de La Candelaria, in Tenerife.
The operation was launched by 112 Canarias at around 10:55 p.m. on Thursday, after Maritime Rescue was informed that it had received two distress calls made from a pirogue heading to El Hierro, in an undetermined position.
The coordination center in Santa Cruz de Tenerife urgently mobilized the Helimer 204 helicopter and the Salvamar Navia, the latter vessel locating the pirogue around 1:00 a.m. about 68 kilometers south of La Restinga.
When the rescue boat arrived at that position, it found a pirogue loaded with 113 people, including two already deceased and a small girl in very bad condition, who was evacuated by the Helimer.
The Salvamar Navia arrived at the port around 4:00 a.m. with the remaining 110 survivors, including eight women and eight minors.
All of them received initial assistance on the pier of La Restinga from personnel from the Canary Health Service and the Red Cross.
These four new deaths on the Atlantic Route occur as an October is about to close, during which there has been an increase in departures of rafts and pirogues towards the Canary Islands, with more than 4,000 people arriving on the islands in a single month, according to a provisional count released by the autonomous community.
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