A total of eleven boats carrying 975 migrants have reached the coast of the Canary Islands between Monday evening and early Tuesday afternoon, according to sources from the emergency services speaking to EFE, with two further rescue operations still under way.
Over the last few hours, seven boats have been attended to on El Hierro; six of these were assisted by the Maritime Rescue Service in the vicinity of La Restinga quay, whilst another cayuco made landfall early this morning under its own power at the port of La Estaca, having been escorted there by a fishing vessel.
There were 56 people of sub-Saharan origin on board that cayuco, including one woman and one child, and according to the information provided to the emergency services, they had set off six days ago from Senegal, where most of the occupants are from.
El Hierro: Three cayucos arrive at La Restinga in the morning
As regards the six vessels assisted at La Restinga, the first, assisted by the Salvamar Diphda, arrived in port at around 10.20 am with 23 people on board, comprising 19 men, two women and two minors, all of Senegalese nationality.
The occupants said they had set off seven days earlier from Saint Louis, in Senegal.
The second vessel, assisted by the Salvamar Navia and arriving at the port shortly after 10.30 am, was carrying 69 people, including 62 men, three women and four children, all of whom were also Senegalese nationals.
This group claimed to have set off five days earlier, also from Saint Louis.
The third cayuco, assisted by the Salvamar Diphda and having arrived at La Restinga at around 11.11, was carrying 125 people on board, of whom 101 were men, five were women and 19 were minors, all from Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.
According to information gathered by the emergency services, they had set off six days earlier from Dangane, in Senegal.
Sea rescue operation saves more boats off El Hierro
As for the fourth vessel assisted at La Restinga, it arrived at around 12.15 pm, carrying 118 people, all of whom were men, from Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania.
According to information provided by the emergency services on the ground, this vessel set sail nine days ago from Barra, a town in Senegal.
The Maritime Rescue Service had to set out again in the early afternoon from the Herreño quay in search of a fifth vessel, which arrived at La Restinga shortly after 2.30 pm, carrying 47 sub-Saharan migrants, 46 of whom were men and one a woman.
According to what they told emergency services, the vessel had left Senegal seven days earlier, and its occupants were Senegalese nationals.
Another mission was launched, this time by the Salvamar Navia, to intercept a sixth cayuco off the coast of La Restinga, detected thanks to a radar echo from the Guardia Civil’s Integrated External Surveillance System (SIVE), which pinpointed it some 26 kilometres south of the El Hierro quay.
According to preliminary figures, there were 202 people on board this vessel, of whom 187 were men and 15 were women; it has not yet been confirmed whether any minors were on board. These people stated that they were from Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali, and that they had set sail seven days ago from Banjul, the capital of The Gambia.
None of the people who arrived on the island today have been taken to the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes Island Hospital to receive medical treatment.
More migrant boats are arriving in Tenerife, El Hierro and Lanzarote
Meanwhile, in Tenerife, the Salvamar Alpheratz was dispatched on Tuesday morning following a report from the Port Authority and attended to a cayuco spotted off Las Vistas beach in Los Cristianos, arriving in port at around 12.15 pm with 172 people on board, of whom 11 were women and nine reported to be minors.
Furthermore, during the night from Monday to Tuesday, another cayuco carrying 59 people arrived in El Hierro in the Canary Islands, and two further small boats arrived in Lanzarote, one carrying 51 migrants and the other 53, according to 112 Canarias.
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