A Spanish observation plane has found what could possibly be a fishing vessel from Senegal with at least 200 migrants on board the craft that had been missing for almost two weeks, according to the maritime rescue service on Monday, July 10.
Reports had it that the large boat was discovered about 71 miles to the south of Gran Canaria.
A rescue ship has already been dispatched and would take about two-and-a-half hours to get to the location.
On Sunday, July 9, a migrant aid group, Walking Borders had made the announcement that a fishing vessel and two boats (one was ferrying about 65 people while the other had about 50 to 60 persons on board) had gone missing for at least a forth-night, since they embarked on a trip to Spain from Senegal.
Meanwhile Helena Maleno, a spokesperson from Walking Borders had on Monday revealed that the families of the approximately 300 migrants on board the three boats, had not received any new details on their whereabouts.
The condition of the migrants, as at the time of writing this report is unknown.
The Walking Borders have contacted authorities in Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco and Spain, to ask for assistance in searching for the missing boats.
The three missing boats had left in late June, from the village of Kafountine in Senegal’s region of Cassamance, a place notorious for its insurgency.
It had been said that the weather conditions in the Atlantic were dangerous for such a voyage.
This route (the Atlantic migration), regularly used by sub-Saharan migrants, is touted as one of the world’s deadliest.
About 559 people had reportedly died in 2022 in attempting to reach the Canary Islands through that route, according to the U.N.’s International Organisation for Migration.
Also, the Data from Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency had reveals that 1,135 migrants, originally from Senegal, had arrived in the Canaries in 2023 so far.
More details to come…
