Seven African migrants were discovered dead on Monday in an attempt to reach Lanzarote in Spain’s Canary Islands, some of the deceased were minors authorities said.
An inflatable boat at a beach of the popular resort of Costa Teguise with five dead bodies inside, a spokesman for the Guardia Civil police force reported.
Two migrants have been admitted to a hospital and in critical condition, another two died after making it to the beach.
He reports a further 18 migrants who made it to shores of Costa Teguise and were taken to the police station.
“We suppose they came from the same boat which arrived at the island around 1200 GMT.”
The Canary Islands archipelago off the coast of Morocco were once frequented by migrants hoping to reach Spain’s shores.
However now migrants are using the western Mediterranean trail which leads from north Africa to southern mainland Spain.
Since the start of January, 285 migrants have crossed and 16 died whilst crossing the International Organization for Migration reports.
In 2017, more than 21,000 migrants landed Spain, and there were 223 who died crossing.