At Least 9 Dead, 48 Missing After Migrant Boat Capsizes in Spain’s Canary Islands

A Civil Guard officer watches a rescue boat searching for possible survivors after the sinking of a wooden boat with migrants near the port of La Restinga, on the island of El Hierro, Spain, on Sept. 28, 2024. Borja Suarez/Reuters

MADRID—At least nine migrants died and 48 are missing after their boat capsized early on Saturday near the Spanish island of El Hierro, rescue services said, in what threatens to be the deadliest such incident in 30 years of such crossings to the Canary Islands.

The emergency services were able to rescue 27 of 84 migrants who were trying to reach the Spanish coast, they added.