Over 80 migrants feared dead after boat found off Spain's Canary Islands

MADRID -- More than 80 migrants are feared dead after a boat that had set out from The Gambia with 128 people aboard was found drifting south of Spain's Canary Islands following nearly four weeks at sea, Spanish news agency EFE reported Thursday.

The boat was spotted by a Spanish Maritime Rescue aircraft on Wednesday afternoon about 120 km south of Gran Canaria. The rescue vessel Guardamar Urania reached the boat around midnight and found 45 survivors and five bodies on board.

The survivors were taken to the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria. Due to rough sea conditions, rescuers were unable to recover the five bodies and left them on the migrant boat.

Spain's Civil Guard confirmed to the Spanish non-governmental organization Caminando Fronteras that markings on the boat's hull matched those of a vessel that departed from The Gambia on Aug 7 with 128 people aboard, including four women and a baby.

In a report released in June, Caminando Fronteras said that a total of 1,317 migrants died while attempting to reach Spain during the first five months of 2026. Of those, 635 lost their lives on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, which the organization described as the deadliest route to Spain during that period.