A canoe en route to the Canary Islands was located by Salvamento Marítimo this Monday afternoon about 63 kilometers southeast of El Hierro, after the vessel issued a call for help due to engine problems. Among the rescued people, the presence of minors, some of them babiesin a journey that has involved, according to the occupants themselves after reaching land, a nine-day journey from Banjul, capital of Gambia.
According to the count carried out by the emergency services that treated the survivors after the disembarkation in La Restinga, 97 immigrants were traveling in the group, including 47 women and 20 minorsseveral of the latter with only a few months of life. The operation, coordinated by Salvamento Marítimo and carried out mainly by Salvamar Diphda, also included the participation of the Helimer 205 helicopter and the Salvamar Menkalinan, deployed from Tenerife. The middle Canary Islands 7 has confirmed these data and indicated that three of the minors have required transfer to the island’s hospital to receive medical attention.
The rescue began after Salvamento Marítimo received a distress call from the boat at 4:24 p.m. on Monday, at which time the emergency stop was activated. emergency device and the intervention units headed to the location point, as indicated EFE Agency. The antenna of the town of San Andrés was the one that captured the alert, coordinating the intervention from there. In addition to the maritime devices, a specialized helicopter was mobilized in the operation.
The people rescued from the boat are 97 immigrantsalso highlighting that the number of minors includes several babies and very young children. After disembarking in La Restinga, the emergency teams confirmed the precarious situation of some of the children, whose stability made it necessary to transfer three of them to the island hospital.
A constant in all the stories is the combination of vulnerable profiles on board the canoe: women and minors, including babies, made up a substantial part of the group. He origin of the journey It is another point confirmed by the testimonies collected after disembarkation and published by the different communication agencies and local media: they came from three African countries, specifically, Gambia, Senegal and Guinea, and they claim to have set sail in the direction of the Canary Islands from the Gambian capital, Banjul. This journey involves covering an approximate distance of 1,600 kilometers of navigation to the Canary Island.
Although the numbers of occupants vary slightly depending on the sources, they all agree on the extreme vulnerability of the passage and the danger of the route undertaken. The Maritime Rescue intervention, supported by the helicopter and other maritime units, has been decisive in guaranteeing the arrival at port of the rescued people and immediate attention to critical cases, especially among minors.
