Migrant boat capsize kills seven off Spain

Four women and three girls drowned on Wednesday after migrants disembarking an overcrowded boat in Spain's Canary Islands accidentally capsized the vessel, rescuers said, in the latest tragedy on the perilous route.

Emergency services in the Atlantic archipelago confirmed the seven deaths "after the capsizing of a vessel" in La Restinga port on the island of El Hierro.

They said on X that one of the girls was aged five and another 16.

Spain's maritime rescue service, which located the boat some six nautical miles from shore, said it was carrying 159 people, including 49 women and 32 minors.

Authorities said it was not immediately clear where the boat had departed from or the nationalities of those on board.

Juan Miguel Padron, mayor of El Pinar, north of La Restinga, told local television that some migrants were trapped in the boat and others died during the rescue when the vessel capsized upon reaching what he called "the promised land". AFP