548 people have survived the Atlantic in the first weekend of the year. Maritime Rescue has rescued nine vessels in the last 48 hours, all of them located in Lanzarote and El Hierro. The year thus begins following in the wake of 2024, when the record for arrivals along the Canary Islands route was broken with 46,843 people rescued, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
This Sunday, 207 people arrived in Lanzarote in three precarious boats. The first two, with 71 and 69 migrants on board, were helped by the Guardamar Calíope at dawn. The survivors arrived in Puerto Naos, Arrecife, at 8:00 a.m., and among them were eight women and three minors, as Salvamento Marítimo reported to this newspaper.
A few hours later, a call came from inside a boat asking for help. The Rescue Coordination Center in Las Palmas activated several vessels in the area, but none managed to sight her. At 8:37 a.m., Guardamar Talía managed to sight it, rescuing 67 people: 64 men and three women. The migrants arrived at the port of Arrecife at 11:45 a.m.
These rescues are added to the 114 people who crossed the Atlantic route to Lanzarote this Saturday in two inflatable boats. A few minutes before 6:00 p.m., the ship Milos reported that it had two small boats at its side asking for help. “Being in the Moroccan SAR zone, the national Maritime Rescue center notifies its counterpart, who shortly after officially requests that the rescue be carried out by Spanish units, as they lack them in the area,” they explain from Sasemar.
It was the Guardamar Talía that arrived in the area at 9:40 a.m. and rescued two groups of 40 and 70 people from the two boats. All of them came from different countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and among them were 23 women and seven minors. According to 1-1-2, no migrant needed to be transferred to the hospital after arriving in Arrecife.
Arrivals to El Hierro
Lanzarote and El Hierro were the main destination islands for people who crossed the Canary Islands route in 2024. This weekend several canoes have also been rescued near the westernmost island of the Archipelago. While a sea guard disembarked two small boats in Lanzarote this morning, 34 sub-Saharan people arrived in La Restinga, including four women. They were escorted to the port of El Hierro by the Adhara salvamar and the Mike 02 boat of the Red Cross, Maritime Rescue has confirmed to Canarias Ahora.
Previously, the Salvamar Acrux had escorted another canoe to the port, disembarking 61 people, including 13 women and four minors. Also this Saturday, two boats were located and taken to La Restinga. One was less than eight miles from El Hierro and the other was eleven. In the first, 68 people were traveling, including three women and a minor. In the second, 64 migrants, including ten minors.
So far, there is no evidence that anyone died or disappeared in the Atlantic over the weekend. In 2024, 9,757 people lost their lives trying to reach the Canary Islands, an average of 28 deaths per day, according to the latest report published by Caminando Fronteras.
Source: www.eldiario.es
