Over 200 people rescued from migrant vessels in Spain’s Canary Islands

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, Jun 1 (EFE).- Spanish coastguards rescued 217 people who were found traveling in unseaworthy migrant boats in waters near the Canary Islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

The Atlantic migrant route from continental Africa to the Spanish island chain is one of the deadliest in the world.

Spanish coast guard vessel Salvamar Mízar led the first operation on Tuesday evening when it rescued 33 men, 10 women and two children and transferred them to a port on the island of Fuerteventura.

The Salvamar Al Nair ship returned to port in Arrecife, Lanzarote, in the early hours of Wednesday morning with 123 people on board — 98 men, 24 women and one child.

The same boat rescued another 49 people — 26 men, 18 women and five children — at 7.30am Wednesday.

Emergency services said a pregnant woman and a child were taken for medical treatment in Fuerteventura while two women and a minor were treated in Lanzarote. EFE

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