Five migrants die trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands

A migrants lays on the ground as Spain's National Police officers stand in front of migrants waiting on the sidewalk before being registered in Loma Colmenar district of Ceuta on August 31, 2026. [AFP]

Five African migrants died on the perilous Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, Spanish rescuers said on Thursday, but an NGO warned dozens more may have perished.

Spain's maritime rescue service Salvamento Maritimo said one of its boats rescued 44 men of sub-Saharan origin from a boat drifting 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria on Wednesday night.

"Adverse weather conditions" initially prevented the retrieval of five corpses that remained on board before it was taken to the port of Arguineguin, the service said on social media.

But a spokeswoman of Spanish migrant aid NGO Caminando Fronteras, Helena Maleno, said on X that 83 migrants had died, including three women and a baby girl, on a boat that left Gambia 27 days ago.

The NGO compiles its data from the families of migrants and the official statistics of those rescued. Its tolls are often higher than the authorities' figures.

A Salvamento Maritimo spokeswoman told AFP that the other alleged victims "have not been found or rescued" and that the alternative death toll could not be confirmed.

It was unclear if more resources would be deployed to search for the other victims, she added.

The Canary Islands are one of the main gateways into Europe for migrants fleeing poverty, conflict and persecution alongside Mediterranean routes to Italy and Greece.

The long journey from west Africa is extremely dangerous due to strong currents and the often ramshackle, overloaded vessels.

After peaking in 2024 at more than 46,000, arrivals to the Atlantic archipelago have fallen sharply thanks to tighter patrols and cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

A total of 5,163 migrants reached the Canaries by sea from January 1 to August 31, a 57-percent drop on the same period last year, according to interior ministry figures.