A shipwreck in Moroccan waters has claimed the lives of two people and left more than 40 people missing, according to Txema Santana, a journalist and migration advisor to the vice-presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands.
There are currently ten survivors from the boat that left the city of Tarfaya, Morocco, which initially had 55 people aboard, reports Europa Press, a Spanish news outlet.
An official with the Canarian Executive has confirmed that the bodies of the deceased have been rescued and that the Moroccan navy has been responsible for transporting the survivors back to Tarfaya.
“More than 40 people are still missing at sea following a new shipwreck on a route that last year saw a record number of people drowning trying to survive,” Santana wrote on the social media platform Twitter.
According to the NGO Alarm Phone, a project operated by volunteers from Europe, Tunisia, and Morocco, which is committed to the sea rescue of refugees, the boat gave a distress call at midnight.
“They were in a panic,” a spokesperson from the NGO revealed, saying that they notified the competent authorities for a rescue operation, however they intervened “11 hours later.”
“The loss of life could have been avoided,” the NGO said.
Helena Maleno, a Spanish Human Rights activist and CEO of the Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) also voiced her concerns regarding the shipwreck and echoed the news. “43 people died in a shipwreck off the coast of Tarfaya. The Moroccan navy has rescued ten survivors and recovered two bodies,” she has collected.
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