At least 50 people are feared drowned after a boat plying the Atlantic route from West Africa to Europe began sinking 60 miles south of the Canary Islands of El Hierro. Nine people were rescued from the vessel yesterday after a passing vessel alerted Spanish rescue service Salvamento Maritimo, which dispatched a speed boat and helicopter from its base in Tenerife.
Nine people saved by rescuers
A spokesperson for Salvamento Maritimo said that “the helicopter arrived, rescued nine people from the half-sunken boat and took them to El Hierro airport, where they were examined by medical staff.” “The rescue ship confirmed that there was no one else on board and returned to base,” the spokesperson added as reported Guardian. The nine people rescued were from sub-Saharan Africa; According to the Spanish Guardia Civil police, 60 people would have been on the boat when she left the Senegalese city of Mbour nine days earlier.
