A merchant ship rescued an irregular immigrant yesterday lunchtime (Saturday) who they spotted in a pneumatic boat 278km south of Gran Canaria, which also had four corpses on board, according to a spokesperson for Maritime Rescue.
A Maritime Rescue helicopter, the Helimer 206, met the merchant ship at around 5pm and transferred the survivor, a 27-year-old man from the Ivory Coast, to the Gando airport in Gran Canaria, where he was met by an ambulance to take him to hospital because, although he was conscious, he had symptoms of severe hypothermia.
The crew on the merchant ship that spotted the small boat also tried to recover the corpses but weren’t able to due to poor sea conditions, however, the Helimer 206 left a radio beacon for its location so that the Miguel de Cervantes rescue boat can recover it.
The Miguel de Cervantes is currently heading to the area and is expected to intercept the pneumatic boat sometime this morning due to how far away it is, and will return to Gran Canaria with the bodies later today.
The recovery operation has been coordinated by the Maritime Rescue Centre of Las Palmas, which has thanked the merchant ship for its collaboration.
UPDATE: 02.10.2022 @1.30pm
According to the man who was rescued from the inflatable boat, there were 34 people of sub-Saharan origin when they departed from West Africa, but 33 have perished during the trip.
