Three people died and one was in critical condition aboard an inflatable boat with 82 occupants, rescued by Spanish maritime authorities this morning, 131 kilometres northeast of the Spanish island of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.
© Lusa
16/09/2026
by
Lusa
According to a spokesman for the rescue service, the vessels “Acrux” and “Al Nair” sail this morning towards the port of Arrecife.
The migrant who is in serious condition was to be transported by helicopter directly from the sea to the hospital.
The Maritime Rescue department team clarified that the boat was in waters under Morocco's rescue responsibility, but Moroccan authorities asked Spain to take over the operation due to lack of resources at that time.
For the time being no further data on the occupants of the vessel or details of what happened have been found.
The Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras indicated that the number of occupants and the location of the vessel coincide with the warnings sent to the Spanish authorities.
This is the second serious case since the beginning of the month in the so-called ‘Canary Route’, considered by the United Nations to be one of the most dangerous in the world.
On September 3, the Maritime Rescue rescued, south of the Canary Islands, 44 people who had been drifting for 26 days in the Atlantic Ocean after leaving the Gambia on board a precarious vessel.