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A luxury cruise ship operated by a Miami-based company rescued seven dozen migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands from Africa on Thursday night, she informed Spanish media today.
The crew of the cruise ship “Insignia”, which was carrying tourists from the Gambia to Tenerife, received a call from the Spanish Coast Guard. The tanker Philip Oldendorf, which was sailing to Brazil, alerted the boat with migrants on board. However, due to its large size, in certain conditions and bad weather, he could not take the runners on board.
The cruise ship successfully rescued the surviving migrants and recovered three bodies from the ship. The other two victims could not be brought on board due to bad weather. However, the cruise ship crew installed a tracking device on the ship so that the Coast Guard could find the victims later.
read more Number of migrants crossing English Channel hits highest level this year on Tuesday
According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, 290 boats have rescued nearly 19,000 migrants between the African coast and the Canary Islands this year, more than three times the number in the same period last year, when fewer than 6,000 were rescued. About half of the migrants who have tried to reach the Canary Islands from Africa this year are from Mali.
According to NGOs, 4,800 refugees have died or disappeared on this route between January and the end of May this year. One of the boats disappeared there in January and sailed from Mauritania was found across the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil in April with nine bodies on board.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 24,550 refugees have arrived in Spain from Africa this year, compared with 57,540 migrants last year. According to the UNHCR, 23,342 migrants have arrived in Italy this year, compared with 157,650 in all of last year.
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