More than 400 migrants arrived in El Hierro on Thursday aboard four small boats from Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania, according to figures provided by the Maritime Rescue Service and the island’s emergency services.
The last of these was spotted at around 3.45 pm during a reconnaissance flight by the Helimer 204 rescue helicopter, some 39 kilometres south-south-west of La Restinga, with between 130 and 150 people on board.
The rescue service contacted a merchant vessel sailing in the area and asked it to maintain visual contact with the cayuco until the arrival of the Salvamar Diphda, which then escorted it to the quay at La Restinga.
El Hierro: Three previous boats brought 285 migrants
Pending the final headcount for this latest boat, the three previous cayucos that arrived in El Hierro on Thursday were carrying 285 migrants.
The three boats were carrying 235 men, 25 women and 25 minors.
Sea rescue service escorts 33 Senegalese nationals to La Restinga
The penultimate boat of the day had entered the port at 15.20, accompanied by the Salvamar Navia, carrying 33 Senegalese men, 14 of whom were minors.
According to the occupants, they had set off four days earlier from Nouadhibou, in northern Mauritania.
The alert regarding this cayuco was received at 13.29, after the Integrated External Surveillance System (SIVE) had detected it some 22 kilometres south of the island, and the Salvamar Navia was dispatched to locate it and escort it to port.
Largest cayuco carries 190 people to El Hierro
Shortly before that, at 14.36, the largest cayuco had arrived, carrying 190 people, accompanied by the Salvamar Diphda after a seven-day voyage from Tanji, in The Gambia.
There were 160 men, 22 women and eight minors on board that vessel, all from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea-Conakry.
Two people required medical treatment at the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes Insular Hospital.
The Maritime Rescue Service received a report from SIVE at 13.02, when this cayuco was situated some 18.5 kilometres south of El Hierro.
La Restinga: First cayuco docks independently in the harbour
The first arrival of the day had taken place at around 1.30 am, when a cayuco carrying 62 people, including three women and three minors, reached La Restinga under its own power.
The occupants explained that they were from Senegal, Mali, The Gambia and Guinea-Conakry, and that they had set off seven days earlier from Saint Louis, in Senegal.
According to the emergency services, everyone was in good health.
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