The judge of El Hierro opens an investigation into the shipwreck of the cayuco in which 63 people died

He Valverde Investigative Court (El Hierro) has officially opened an investigation into the circumstances of wreck of the cayuco that sank on September 28 when he was rescued by Salvamento Marítimo just six kilometers from the island, with the result of 63 deadof which only nine bodies have been recovered.

Through a request issued by the Transparency Portal of the Government of Spain, Salvamento Marítimo has reported that The Civil Guard is carrying out an investigation into that accident in functions of Judicial Police, so cannot reveal more details of what happened that night.

Sources from the Civil Guard in El Hierro have corroborated that the investigations are carried out by order of the Valverde Investigating Judge, who, ex officio, has asked to know all the circumstances possible of how the canoe sank when it was already receiving help of a Rescue ship, the Guardamar Concepción Arenal.

The information provided after the shipwreck by Salvamento indicates that the cayuco overturned when several of its occupants crowded on the same side during the rescue and they unbalanced it, which caused them to fall into the sea in the middle of the night (it was around one in the morning) and in a strong wind (20 knots, 37 km/h).

Testimonies from six survivors indicate that The boat broke in the middle of the rescue operationwhen several of the migrants had already crossed to the deck of the Guardamar.

Two of the survivors have detailed that, after docking (standing next to) the rescue ship, one of the ropes that held the canoe to the Guardamar Concepción Arenal became loose or broke. This caused one end of the canoe to separate momentarily, until The wind and waves pushed him against the metal hull of the Guardamarcausing it to split in two.

Sixty three men coming from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea and Gambia, several of them minors, lost their livesof which only nine bodies have been recovered, which were buried in the following 48 hours in La Frontera and Valverde. The rest have not appeared, despite the fact that The search continued for several days.