A child "
of about 5 years
" was found dead off the Spanish Canary Islands, in a migrant boat on board which were also two babies and twenty women, announced the local authorities on Monday October 25th. .
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In total, about fifty migrants "
from sub-Saharan Africa
" had undertaken the crossing of the coast of northwestern Africa to the Canaries in this boat of only "
7 meters
" rescued Sunday evening in the south-west of France. island of Gran Canaria, the Spanish coastguard told AFP. A child "
of about 5 years
" was found dead on board the boat, they added, adding that, according to the first elements available to them, six minors, including this child, and 23 women were on board, thus constituting nearly half of the passengers.
According to the emergency services of the archipelago, the other five minors are two babies, two children of 6 years and one of 7 years.
They had to be evacuated, with two adults, by helicopter and then hospitalized because they presented a serious state of dehydration or hypothermia, added the emergency services.
The other passengers disembarked in the evening at the port of Arguineguín, on the island of Gran Canaria.
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At least 887 migrants have died, including 60 children, trying to reach the Canary Islands from West Africa since the start of the year, more than double the same period last year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, 14,720 migrants arrived in the Canaries between January 1 and October 15, almost twice as many as over the same period of 2020.