Seventeen migrants found dead in a boat drifting off the coast of Tenerife

Seventeen migrants have been found dead in a boat drifting off the coast of Tenerife with three survivors airlifted to hospital.

The victims – all sub-Saharan Africans – were found drifting off El Hierro in Spain‘s Canary Islands, officials confirmed.

A Spanish military helicopter airlifted three survivors – two men and a woman – to a hospital on the island of Tenerife.

One of the men was in serious condition with ‘severe dehydration’.

It comes as migrant arrivals to the archipelago surge despite the deadly dangers of the crossing.  

A Spanish air force plane first spotted the boat some 265 nautical miles southeast of El Hierro on Monday morning.

Seventeen migrants have been found dead in a boat drifting off the coast of Tenerife with three survivors airlifted to hospital. A Spanish military helicopter (pictured) airlifted three survivors – two men and a woman – to a hospital on the island of Tenerife

It comes as migrant arrivals to the archipelago surge despite the deadly dangers of the crossing. Pictured: Migrants rescued in Gran Canaria on Sunday

A search and rescue vessel was deployed to the area, a spokeswoman for Spain’s maritime rescue service said.

The migrants on the boat were all sub-Saharan Africans, she added.

It was not immediately clear where the boat had embarked from.

Earlier this month four people were found dead in a makeshift boat that was found south of El Hierro, with 23 migrants on board.

At its shortest, the sea crossing to the Atlantic islands from the Moroccan coast is around 60 miles.

The victims – all sub-Saharan Africans – were found drifting off El Hierro in Spain’s Canary Islands, officials confirmed. Pictured: A helicopter (pictured) airlifting survivors

But it is a notoriously dangerous route because of strong currents. Vessels are also typically overcrowded and in poor condition.

Migrant arrivals on the archipelago surged after increased patrols along Europe’s southern coast dramatically reduced crossings to the continent via the Mediterranean.

Some 3,400 people arrived in the Canaries between January 1 and March 31 this year, compared with less than half that number over the same period in 2020.

Earlier this month four people were found dead in a makeshift boat that was found south of El Hierro, with 23 migrants on board. Pictured: Rescuers carrying a coffin containing one of the bodies

Rights groups have warned that the Covid-19 crisis has spurred the flight effect, with those working in tourism, fishing or other casual jobs in north Africa choosing to cross the Atlantic – or helping others do so with their boats.

Last year, 1,851 people died on the route, according to the Caminando Fronteras organisation which monitors migrant flows.

The founder of the NGO, Helena Maleno, tweeted that in the last month ‘at least’ 283 people have disappeared while making their way to the Canaries on five different boats from Mauritania.

Meanwhile around 100 migrants tried to swim to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco on Sunday, Spanish police said.

Rescuers from the Spanish Coast Guard unload one of the recovered bodies of four deceased migrants on April 12

The migrants, including minors, set off in groups of 20 to 30 throughout the day, a spokesman for the Guardia Civil police force in Ceuta said.

A handful managed to reach a beach in Ceuta on their own but most had to be rescued by Spanish rescue boats, he added.

‘It is not normal – there can be groups of three, four or five, but not this many,’ the police spokesman said.

Ceuta, together with a second Spanish enclave in north Africa, Melilla, have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa, making them popular entry points for migrants seeking a better life in Europe.