So far this weekend, Maritime Rescue has rescued three boats carrying a total of 232 North African migrants, including women and children, bound for the Canary Islands from the African continent, according to sources from the public body and the Center Emergency and Security Coordinator (Cecoes) 1-1-2.
The last vessel was sighted around 5:20 a.m. this Sunday, when the Maritime Rescue Center in Las Palmas received a notice from a fishing boat announcing that it had a small boat at its side some 50 miles from Arrecife, for which reason it mobilized to the Salvamar ‘Al Nair’ and contacted the fishing boat, informing it that the Salvage unit was heading towards their position.
After 7:00 a.m., the salvamar intercepted the boat and began the rescue of the 36 people on board: 21 men, 9 women and 7 minors, all North Africans. With all the rescued on board, she headed towards the port of Arrecife. After evaluation by the health device, one of the migrants, with a minor ankle trauma, was transferred to the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital.
On Saturday another boat, a pneumatic type, was sighted around 6:00 p.m. by the Sasemar 101 horn and provided its position to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Las Palmas, which mobilized the ‘Polimnia’ guardamar. The aircraft remained in the area updating the position until the arrival of the Rescue unit.
At around 9:15 p.m., the ‘Polymnia’ guardboat confirmed the rescue of the 42 people on board (27 men, 9 women and a child under 6 years of age), all of them of North African origin. With all the rescued on board, the guardamar headed for the port of Arrecife, where she proceeded to disembark at around 11:30 p.m. Two women and the minor required hospital assistance.
Also on Saturday, around 10:00 p.m., the Civil Guard informed the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Tenerife of a suspicious echo, a possible cayuco, some 10 miles south of the island, for which the salvamar ‘Menkalinan was mobilized ‘ and the ships were informed that they were in the area in case they could confirm it.
A little over an hour later, the ‘Menkalinan’ salvamar confirmed the sighting and proceeded to rescue the 159 people on board: 130 men and 29 minors, all sub-Saharan. At around 1:30 a.m., she finished disembarking at the Los Cristianos pier and a medical transfer was made for different pathologies.
