Seven people have disappeared when an inflatable boat with fifty occupants on board sank 78 kilometers east of Lanzarote, in 12 frantic hours for the Maritime Rescue crews on the island, who have rescued 266 immigrants in six boats.
The shipwreck occurred when the Moroccan fishing boat Maranda Octavo had approached the area, offering help to its occupants and picking up 41 people from the water until the Guardamar Polimnia arrived from Lanzarote, which rescued two other men, according to A Maritime Rescue spokesperson has informed EFE.
The state society was aware that at least two people could have disappeared. However, upon reaching land, the survivors warned that seven were missing: three men, three women and a child of about four years old, sources from the emergency services involved in the assistance have told EFE.
Although they became known this morning, the events occurred on Sunday afternoon, after the fishing boat alerted around 6:15 p.m. that it had in sight an inflatable boat overloaded with immigrants, so Maritime Rescue asked it to stay alongside. to her until a rescue ship arrived from Arrecife.
When the Guardamar Polimnia arrived in the area, between 8 and 9 p.m., the zodiac had already sunk and the Maranda Octavo was rescuing shipwrecked people from the water, a task that was joined by the Spanish ship and the Helimer Rescue helicopter. 204.
The fishing boat took its 41 rescued people to the capital of Lanzarote. There were 33 men, four women and four minors of North African origin, according to the count available to 112 of the Canary Islands.
An hour and a half later, back at port, Polimnia helped another 50 men and one woman of Maghreb and sub-Saharan origin located in another inflatable boat 81 kilometers from Lanzarote, whom it also transferred to Arrecife.
Throughout the early morning, around 2 hours, a boat with 31 people of Maghreb and sub-Saharan origin on board, including a woman, arrived by its own means at the port of Los Mármoles, in Arrecife, and shortly after another warning due to the presence of a fourth boat near the coast.
The latter has been rescued by the Salvamar Al Nair, with 44 men and one woman on board, all of North African origin.
Early in the morning, the Guardamar Polimnia and the Salvamar Al Nair have also rescued another hundred people in two more boats in waters near Lanzarote: a group of 48 North Africans (46 men and two women) and another of 49 sub-Saharans. (43 men, five women and one minor).
According to 112, of the 266 people rescued during the night and morning in Lanzarote, only two needed medical assistance, for minor issues.
The same does not happen with a seventh aid boat south of Gran Canaria with about 60 people. There is still no definitive count of it, because the medical services continue working at the Arguineguín dock with its occupants, since several of them are in poor condition, states 112 of the Canary Islands.
