Four men have died in a cayuco that arrived this morning at the Cabezo beach in El Médano in the municipality of Granadilla in the south of Tenerife, which had a total of 47 irregular immigrants of sub-Saharan origin on board, according to a spokeswoman for the emergency services.
The boat reached the coast at around 4:30am this morning with three dead bodies on board and 44 survivors, but unfortunately another one died on the beach from a heart attack as medical teams tried to revive him.
Among the final 43 survivors there is one woman and 17 possible minors who will have to undergo age tests. Three of the occupants of the cayuco have been transferred to the El Mojón health centre, with dehydration, and burns caused by sea water, motor fuel and erosions, none of which are life threatening.
Emergency Services received the first warning call of the arrival of the boat from people who were spending the night in the camping area of the coast in a motor home, who heard cries for help from the immigrants.
Health teams were activated and dispatched to the beach, and remained there until almost 7:30am so that everyone could be assessed and treated. The four deceased are the first known victims in 2021 of the so-called Canary Route, which last year claimed the lives of almost 600 people, according to data from the UN International Organization for Migration.
Also this morning, a dinghy with 22 immigrants of Maghreb origin on board arrived on the coast of Costa Teguise in Lanzarote at around 3.15am, as reported by the Red Cross.
The Lanzarote Emergency Consortium said that there are 21 men, one of them possibly a minor, and a woman who claim to have left Agadir in Morocco four days ago. All were in good general condition and no medical transfers were made.
