Four bodies found, 29 missing off Spain’s Canary Islands

• The bodies of four migrants who died in an inflatable dinghy and a survivor are brought to Gran Canaria.
• One of the people in the dinghy was saved; 29 others “have been eaten by the ocean” They had left from Western Sahara, south of Laayoune.

The bodies of four migrants who died in an inflatable dinghy with 34 people on board in the Atlantic Ocean and a survivor were brought to Spain’s Canary Islands, a local maritime rescue service and an NGO said.

“The ship Miguel de Cervantes has brought back the bodies of the four people who were found dead in a dinghy yesterday 150 miles southwest of Gran Canaria,” the maritime rescue service said on Twitter. One of the people in the dinghy was saved.

The only person to survive was a 27-year-old man who was “exhausted” and was found on the dinghy with the bodies, according to tweets from Helena Maleno of Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish group that tracks migration flows.

A maritime rescue service spokeswoman said Monday that the survivor, who was cold, was taken to the island of Gran Canaria by helicopter on Saturday afternoon.

“The other 29 victims, in total,” Maleno said, “have been eaten by the ocean.” They had left from Western Sahara, south of Laayoune.

From January 1 to July 15, at least 9,308 people came from Western Africa to the Canary Islands, according to data from the Spanish government. This is a 27.5% increase compared to the same time period in 2021.

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