By Charles Igwe
Spanish rescuers are conducting a search operation in the waters off the Canary Islands for a boat carrying at least 200 African migrants who have been missing for over a week.
The humanitarian group Walking Borders reports that the fishing boat departed from Kafountine, a coastal town in southern Senegal, located approximately 1,700km (1,057 miles) away from Tenerife.
The group indicates that many children are among the passengers on board.
There are also reports of two additional boats with dozens more people on board that are believed to be missing.
Spain’s maritime rescue service has deployed a plane to assist in the search efforts.
The journey from West Africa to the Canary Islands is known as one of the most perilous routes for migrants, mainly due to the use of simple dugout fishing boats that are vulnerable to powerful Atlantic currents.
The migrants attempting this route often come from countries such as Morocco, Mali, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, and other sub-Saharan nations.
The boat carrying 200 people departed from Kafountine on June 27th with the intention of reaching the Canary Islands.
Limited information is available about the other two boats, but according to Helena Maleno of Walking Borders, one is estimated to have around 65 people on board, while the other carries up to 60 individuals. This brings the total number of people missing across the three boats to over 300.
