At least five people died and dozens more were feared dead after a boat carrying West African migrants ran into trouble in the Atlantic Ocean. Forty-four people were brought to safety in the Canary Islands.
tens of thousands of people have died or gone missing in recent years, with several migrant boats getting lost and drifting all the way across the Atlantic to the Americas While arrivals to the Spanish archipelago have fallen significantly in the past year. Ms. Maleno and her NGO are frequently contacted by relatives of missing migrants and often relay calls for help and rescue to Spanish authorities. The AP reached out to Ms. Maleno and Walking Borders seeking further details but has not yet received a response. The West African Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands is one of the deadliest crossings to Europe.
In an emailed statement, Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said that it was not able to retrieve the remains of the five dead found inside the boat due to strong winds and waves that were 2.5 metres (8 feet) high.
Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said on Thursday (September 3, 2026) that one of its planes had spotted a “precarious” boat drifting some 120 km (74 miles) south of the island of Gran Canaria on Wednesday afternoon (September 2, 2026).
