AP
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Emergency services in Spanish say that four women and three girls died when a small boat carrying migrants capsized while arriving in a port in one of the Spanish Canary Islands on Wednesday.
The Spain’s maritime rescue service, which located the boat at around 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) from the shore, said the boat went while rescuers were starting to remove minors arriving at a platform on the island of El Hierro.
The movement of the people on the boat switched to it and then turned around, throwing the occupants into the water, said the service.
Emergency services for the Canary Islands have said that four women, a teenager and two young girls died in the accident. One of the girls was found by a rescue diver.
A helicopter evacuated two other children, a girl and a boy, in a local hospital in serious condition after drowning almost drowned, added the service.
Local media reports said the small boat seemed to be filled with more than 100 people. The Spanish rescuers and the members of the Red Cross have come out of the water.
The Spanish archipelago located off the west coast of Africa has been a main route for migrants for years that are risking their lives in canoes and rubber boats unfit for long trips to sea. Thousands of people are known to die on the path of European territory.
Nearly 47,000 people who made the crossing last year reached the archipelago, exceeding previous records for the second time. Most of them were citizens of Mali, Senegal and Morocco, with many pension boats in Spain from the coast of Mauritania.
Arrivals include thousands of unaccompanied minors.
Some 10,800 people arrived via the Atlantic to the Canary Islands in mid-May, which was down 34% compared to the same period in 2024.
