Another tragedy in the Atlantic has left a new trail of people dead trying to reach Europe; but it also tells an extraordinary story of survival. Early last Monday, a 230-meter-long oil tanker sighted a half-sunken canoe in which nine fainted men were resisting. They were rescued by a Maritime Rescue helicopter and their first stories upon reaching land described an odyssey that seemed implausible. The canoe, with 60 people on board, had capsized and these nine castaways had managed to turn it around and stay afloat for hours. The story raised suspicions among the Police, among other things because it was a huge ship and, therefore, difficult to turn, but after taking statements from six of the nine survivors, the pieces fit together. “The testimonies are coincidental and spontaneous. That is, credible,” explains a police source.
The ship left the port of the fishing village of M’bour, in Senegal, in the early hours of April 18. This area was the epicenter of boat departures with emigrants to the Canary Islands at the end of 2020, but a few months ago the transfer of barges from Senegal had lost steam. On board this boat, survivors say, there were 60 people, including four minors. Compared to other boats that have arrived to the archipelago in recent months, with up to 300 people, this one was not so overloaded and had plenty of gasoline and food. The water, however, ran out, and they soon realized that they were being led by a skipper with little navigational skills, survivors have told the police.
Ten days after their departure, when they should have reached any of the Canary Islands, the canoe destabilized and capsized to starboard, to the right side. It was five in the afternoon on April 28. It is not clear why, although the castaways mentioned several reasons that could have occurred all at once. A gust of wind, a wave and a bad load, that is, the weight of the passenger was unbalanced, tilting the boat hopelessly. And above all, police sources point out, they mentioned the boss’s “bad expertise” in that situation.
With the capsize, everyone fell into the water. They say that the skipper was the first to die because he hit the engine’s propellers, but after him almost everyone drowned, including the brother of one of the survivors. 51 more people sunk in the Atlantic, adding to the 179 dead or missing that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has verified so far this year. The IOM is aware that its figures are much lower than the real ones, “but it is a route in which it is difficult to find firm evidence of all the shipwrecks,” says Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesperson for this UN agency. An example of this is the recent discovery in Brazil of a canoe with nine decomposing bodies, a reminder of the dozens of boats that are lost each year trying to reach Europe. The Canary Islands is one of the most dangerous migratory routes in the world.
What is extraordinary is how these nine men managed to recover after the chaos of a shipwreck. And then, turn around a boat that, although it is made of wood and has a lot of buoyancy, weighs several tons. They have not given many details, but the six interviewed agree that they turned it around and climbed onto those semi-sunken remains. They held out like this until the tanker crew Beskidy, on his way to Cartagena, sighted them around seven in the morning on the 29th, about 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) from El Hierro. According to this story, they did not spend two days among her wreckage, as was initially reported, but it was more than 12 hours, including the night.
The ship launched the radio alert. She left for them immediately on the Salvamar Adhara and two hours later the helicopter flew over them Helimer 206 who took them to dry land. This Wednesday, six of those rescued remained in the hospital, although their lives, according to health sources, are not in danger.
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The Canary Islands route has attracted a lot of attention in recent months, especially since October, when there was an explosion in arrivals, especially on the island of El Hierro. The headlines continue to talk about large increases and although they are true when compared to last year’s figures, there are nuances, because arrivals, although very high, have been declining for two months.
As of April 29, 15,773 migrants and refugees had landed in the Canary Islands, according to the IOM, compared to 3,000 in the same period in 2023. It is a relevant increase, but after the peak that began in October of last year and lasted until mid-2020. February, the figures for March and April have been considerably reduced compared to previous months.
Even so, the islands are experiencing an unprecedented period. After closing 2023, with 40,000 arrivals and, despite the recent slowdown, those rescued number in the thousands in months in which this journey traditionally had no activity. While last year Senegal was the epicenter of the departures, now the majority of the cayucos leave Mauritania without the effects of the visit that Pedro Sánchez and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, made to the country. in February to announce the delivery of 500 million euros for its development and stop the departure of vessels.
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