Spanish Rescuers Intercept 2 Boats With Irregular Migrants Near Canary Islands

Spanish Rescuers Intercept 2 Boats With Irregular Migrants Near Canary Islands

Spanish rescuers have intercepted two boats with 85 undocumented migrants off the coast of the Gran Canaria island, local emergency service said on Friday

MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2019) Spanish rescuers have intercepted two boats with 85 undocumented migrants off the coast of the Gran Canaria island, local emergency service said on Friday.

According to the statement published on Twitter, there were 79 migrants aboard the first boat and six people on the second. All of the migrants were transferred to the port of Arguineguin and two of them received medical assistance.

According to the International Migration Organization, since the beginning of 2019, over 22,000 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea, while 324 migrants died on the way.

On November 6, nine migrants were killed and two were said to be missing as a result of a boat crash off the coast of Lanzarote Island, in the Canary Archipelago. At least four migrants died while attempting to reach the Canary Islands on October 29. A Singapore-flagged merchant vessel rescued other migrants who were also on that boat.