ACN
In total, the number of irregular immigrants intercepted in Fuerteventura on Wednesday afternoon amounts to 77 people, after one of the Civil Guard patrol boats finally intercepted a last boat 10 kilometers from Nuevo Horizonte, Antigua.
Initially, the State Security Forces and Corps considered the possibility that the occupants of this last boat, 36 adult men of sub-Saharan origin, would disembark on land after the crew of the Benemérita helicopter certified that "they were not in danger." However, they were finally intercepted by a patrol boat that, after rescuing the undocumented immigrants, proceeded to transfer them to the Puerto del Rosario dock.
The search device was activated around 2:00 p.m. after the Emergency Coordination Center, CECOES 112, registered the call from one of the occupants of a boat who claimed to "be traveling with a large group of people and be disoriented."
Immediately, the Comprehensive Exterior Surveillance System launched the search mechanism that culminated in the detection of 2 boats, the furthest one 14 nautical miles from the Entallada Lighthouse, Tuineje, and a second one 11 miles from Pozo Negro, Antigua.
The Maritime Rescue boat, in which two Benemérita agents were traveling, was the first to respond to the Civil Guard's warning and went to the detection of the boat furthest from the coast. After a rescue without complications, the group of irregulars composed of 41 people, including 2 women, "one of them pregnant between two and three months" was taken to the Gran Tarajal dock, Tuineje, where they were attended by the Red Cross beachside care device.
Both boats are the usual and typical wooden boats with an approximate size of just over 6 meters in length by almost two meters in beam, according to the Civil Guard.
During the current year 2006, counting these last two boats, a total of 14 boats with 513 immigrants have arrived in Fuerteventura. In the month of March, 4 boats were registered on that island with 150 immigrants, while in February 3 boats arrived with 108 immigrants and in January 5 boats with 178 immigrants.
