A new drama at sea off Spain.
The lifeless bodies of four migrants were found off the coast of the province of Cadiz in southern Spain, rescuers said on Friday.
The latter are still looking for 21 people, potentially missing, according to the testimonies of three people rescued.
These three survivors were located Thursday shortly before 9 p.m. while their makeshift boat was sinking.
A search notice was issued to boats circulating in the area to find the other occupants of the boat, said a spokesperson for sea rescue. The boat was then nearly 70 km west of the Cape Trafalgar, according to the rescue at sea which intervened after being warned by a ship.
Research still in progress
Two men were on board the boat alongside the lifeless body of a third person, said the spokesperson for the rescue.
A woman was rescued from the water while three bodies were recovered.
According to survivors, a total of 28 people were initially in the boat.
The search, which lasted all night and is still ongoing, notably mobilizes a helicopter which flies over the area to try to locate the missing.
The tragedies of immigration are recurrent off the coast of Spain that migrants try to reach, despite the danger, from the Moroccan or Algerian coasts.
Spain is generally only a stopover for these migrants whose final destination is often France.
2021, the deadliest year on the migration route
A total of 27,136 migrants arrived by sea in mainland Spain or in the archipelagos of the Balearic Islands or the Canaries between January and the end of September, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of the Interior.
That is a jump of 53.8% compared to the same period of 2020.
And according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) at the end of September, 2021 is "the deadliest year on the migratory route to Spain" with at least 1,025 people dead in their attempt to reach Spain. or its archipelagos.
Read alsoSpain facing the migration challenge
The road to the Canaries, in the Atlantic Ocean, is particularly deadly: at least 785 people died trying to reach this archipelago from West Africa between January and August 2021, according to the IOM.
For its part, the NGO Caminando Fronteras, which is based on the testimonies of migrants or their families, estimates that more than 2,000 people died or disappeared while trying to reach the Canaries in 2021.
