The cayuco that was located adrift last Monday with at least 17 dead on board and three survivors will arrive in Tenerife on Wednesday night, according to sources from the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands and Maritime Rescue.
The guardamar Talía managed to reach the place where the boat was located at noon on Tuesday, which was sighted about 270 miles southwest of the island of El Hierro. Since then, a merchant ship had remained in the area to prevent it from being lost, until the boat finally arrived to carry out the towing.
The cayuco was found on Monday morning by a Search and Rescue (SAR) plane of the Air Force, so the Maritime Rescue Control Center in Tenerife mobilized the guardamar Talía and a SAR helicopter. After locating the boat, at around 4:30 p.m. the helicopter proceeded to rescue the only survivors, two men and a woman, and reported that there were 17 lifeless bodies on board.
Initially, the three rescued migrants were going to be transferred to the La Restinga dock and, from there, to the Nuestra Señora de Los Reyes Hospital. However, due to their condition, with obvious symptoms of dehydration, it was decided that they should be evacuated to Tenerife North Airport, where the Canary Emergency Service (SUC) deployed two medicalized ambulances and one basic life support for the initial assistance of these three people.
One of the men was transferred in serious condition due to severe dehydration to the University Hospital of the Canary Islands and the other man and the woman were evacuated in moderate condition to the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital. According to sources from the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, the three remain stable.