Emergency teams have resumed the search this Sunday at eight in the morning for the 54 people who are missing after a cayuco capsized yesterday off the island of El Hierro.
Three aerial and three maritime resources make up the search device, as reported to EFE by sources from Maritime Rescue. A boat is coasting along the island, while the rest of the resources have concentrated in the area where the shipwreck occurred, 6.4 kilometers from El Hierro.
In total, a Maritime Rescue boat, a Red Cross boat, and a Civil Guard patrol boat are working. There are also three aerial resources: two from the Civil Guard and one from the Government of the Canary Islands, which are rotating. The device finished working last night around 8:00 PM and resumed its work today at 8:00 AM.
The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, reported this Saturday that emergency teams do not expect to recover more bodies of the people who fell into the sea last night when a cayuco capsized in El Hierro until within three days, when they surface.
Fernando Clavijo pointed out that, nevertheless, the rescue efforts will continue, which will move towards the east of the island, in favor of the sea currents, in order to locate the 54 people who are missing.
The shipwreck
The tragedy occurred around one thirty in the morning this Saturday. Maritime Rescue personnel had towed a boat with 130 occupants to the dock of La Restinga when they received a notice that another boat was just a few kilometers from the coast and was requesting help.
A call to the emergency services alerted that the boat, with 84 occupants, was in distress after running out of engine. The alert was given by the migrants themselves, who notified their relatives in Mauritania, and they, in turn, contacted the NGO Caminando Fronteras.
At the time of their rescue, the migrants stood up, and this fact, together with the intense wind blowing in the area, caused the boat to capsize.