MADRID: Spanish authorities in the Canary Islands say that four migrants have died and another is missing amid a surge of arrivals in the archipelago.
The Spanish government’s delegation in Las Palmas said Wednesday that the missing and drowned African migrants were part of a group of 34 traveling in a wooden boat.
A Singapore-flagged cargo ship picked up 29 survivors and recovered the bodies of the four victims about 600 kilometers (370 miles) south of the islands.
The delegation said that two more dinghies with 158 migrants reached the Canaries on Tuesday.
About 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Atlantic Ocean separate the Spanish archipelago from the northeastern African coast.
Authorities say the islands saw in October around one third of around 1,440 migrant arrivals by sea so far this year.
