On Friday, sea rescue forces rescued more than 350 migrants on two Cayucos islands south of El Hierro, including at least one child and 44 women, according to a count taken with the first of the two boats: 247 people are already in the port of La Restinga.
At noon, a rescue plane searching the Atlantic Ocean south of the Canary Islands for possible boats carrying migrants saw the first small boat about 100 kilometers from El Hierro.
This led to the dispatch of the Navia ship, the newer and faster of the two rescue ships assigned to the port of La Restinga, to help them, a spokesman for the state company told EFE.
However, its crew found themselves on their way to the rescue with another boat that had already run out of fuel, with more people than could be safely boarded (203 men and 44 women).
In view of this situation, he also mobilized from La Restinga to Salvamar Devda. Between the two high tides, they moved all the rescued people to land: the first group of 40 were weaker in Navya and the remaining 207 in Devda.
There is still no data on how many minors were on board, but EFE was able to verify upon disembarkation that the group of 40 included at least one child, who was taken to Valverde Hospital along with a woman who had been hit in the face.
In parallel, Guardamar Talía from Santa Cruz de Tenerife was mobilized in case it was necessary to assist the distant Cayoco. Finally, it was Salvamar Navia’s ship that helped him, after he completed his first rescue and returned to the sea.
The first population estimate is between 110 and 130 people, expected to arrive in La Restinga around 7:30 p.m.
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