A fourth rescue of 44 individuals, who were adrift between Tenerife and La Gomera aboard a makeshift boat, brings the total number of African immigrants rescued alive this early morning on the Canarian route to 464, as reported by an official source to EFE.
This involved a makeshift boat occupied by 39 males, 3 females, and 2 minors, all from Sub-Saharan Africa, who, around 23:00 on Wednesday, signaled that they were adrift between the two aforementioned islands in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where their rescue was coordinated from the Maritime Rescue center.
The Salvamar Mizar set out from its base to rescue these 44 individuals at 01:20 on Thursday and concluded their disembarkation at the port of Los Cristianos in Tenerife at 3:57.
Earlier, three other boats from Maritime Rescue had saved 420 people found in three makeshift boats south of El Hierro, one of which involved a childbirth on board and another in a desperate situation, to the extent that the occupants claimed to have already lost between 10 and 12 of their companions.
The operation began Wednesday afternoon when the Norwegian merchant ship Ramfor Atlas reported sighting a makeshift boat with over a hundred people aboard about 200 kilometers south of El Hierro, prompting the dispatch of the Guardamar Urania from Granadilla (Tenerife) to assist.
Emergency services sources on El Hierro informed EFE that upon reaching that point in the Atlantic, the Urania was faced with a doubly complicated situation: a barge with 190 individuals aboard and another similar vessel nearby.
The Guardamar Urania rescued both groups, the first of which included a woman who had just given birth at sea, and awaited assistance from the Guardamar Talía.
Currently, the Urania is sailing with 190 individuals towards the port of La Restinga in El Hierro, where it is expected to arrive around 9:00, and the Talía with another 160 towards the dock in Arguineguín, in Gran Canaria, where it is anticipated to arrive around 11:30.
Meanwhile, the two vessels involved in the operation received information about a potential third makeshift boat in the area, which was located by the Salvamar Adhara, also deployed urgently from the port of La Restinga.
In this vessel, Rescue teams encountered the most severe situation of the three rescues: 70 individuals who claimed to have set out 13 days ago from Nuakchot and to have lost between 10 and 12 companions during the journey, who had died and were thrown overboard.
The survivors consist of 70 citizens from Ghana, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, and Mali, including at least three women.
Three of them were airlifted in critical condition to hospitals in Tenerife, and the other 67 arrived early in the morning with the Adhara at the port of La Restinga, as witnessed by EFE. Among these, eight have been transferred from the dock to the island hospital.
