Madrid: A migrant boat sank in the sea off the Canary Islands of Spain, in which the bodies of two people, including a child, were found, while a rescue operation is underway to search for the 34 drowned.
According to international media reports, a total of 60 people were on board the boat heading to the Canary Islands. Out of which two dozen passengers have been rescued in time.
According to the Spanish Maritime Agency, 24 people have been saved in a timely rescue operation by the Moroccan authorities (Navy and Maritime Affairs).
Walking Borders, an NGO set up for refugees, reported the accident and said all the passengers were foreign migrants. A source in Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said the rescue operation was carried out 88 miles southeast of Gran Canaria.
A spokesman for Spain’s maritime agency said the boat had suffered damage in the open sea, causing it to sink. The news of this incident and the rescue operation was received by the Moroccan authorities.
He said that during the rescue operation started with the help of a helicopter, the body of a child was found which has been transferred to the airport of Canaria, later a body was also found in the rescue operation by ship.
“We don’t know exactly how many people are missing, but there could be more than 60 people on the boat,” the spokesman added.
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