Seven individuals stand accused of operating a migrant vessel and murdering four of its passengers on a voyage to the Canary Islands, authorities on Tenerife announced Sunday.
On November 3, an African migrant vessel arrived on the island of El Hierro carrying 207 foreign asylum-seekers. The passengers told local officials that the boat had originated in the Gambia, but most of the passengers boarded at Bassoul, Senegal before making the 800 nautical mile voyage north to the Canary Islands.
In the middle of the voyage, the crew of the migrant vessel decided that one passenger had become a problem. "The reason was that one of the occupants, possibly affected by the harshness of the journey, suffered an episode of disorientation, causing the three captains to blame him for the misfortune of the journey," Spain's Guardia Civil said in a statement.
The crew beat the man, according to witnesses, along with other passengers who stepped in to defend him. The police allege that the crew murdered four of the passengers "to frighten the migrants on the boat." One more passenger was hospitalized with a deep chest wound, possibly caused by a stabbing attack.
Three of the victims have been identified, and their families have been notified. The fourth victim's identity is still under investigation.
Long-distance maritime migration from Africa to the Canary Islands is on the rise this year. As of late December, more than 45,000 foreign nationals have arrived in the Spanish archipelago since the start of the year, including more than 600 people on Dec. 28 alone.
NGO Caminando Fronteras estimates that nearly 10,000 asylum seekers have died at sea while attempting to reach the Canary Islands this year, suggesting a tragically high fatality rate - far higher than that on the Central Mediterranean route to Italy.
