Four dead as migrant boat capsizes off Canary Islands, more missing

A boat with 35 migrants from the Maghreb region which was heading towards the Canary Islands capsized on Tuesday, emergency services said.

Four people were found dead, 28 were rescued and some are still missing, they said, adding that emergency services are still looking for a second boat.

Migrant arrivals in Canary Islands have surged to 17,000 this year – ten times last year’s total – as north Africans grow desperate after losing their income from tourism, a sector hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Spanish government promised on Friday to assist in building shelters for arrivals as local authorities appealed for help in housing the thousands sleeping in the open.