A small boat carrying 280 migrants has landed in Spain’s Canary Islands.<\/p>\n
The vessel arrived on the remote island of El Hierro, some 380km (238 miles) off Africa’s western coast, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Rescue workers said those onboard were of sub-Saharan African origin and it was the largest number of migrants ever to arrive in the archipelago in one go.<\/p>\n
The crossing to the Canary Islands is one of the most commonly used and dangerous routes to Europe for migrants from Africa.<\/p>\n
“I’ve never seen a boat with so many people on board,” journalist and former migration adviser Txema Santana said on social media<\/a> after the vessel arrived.<\/p>\n Since the start of the year, 140 people have died or disappeared trying to make the crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration.<\/p>\n Use of the route has increased in recent years as tighter controls have been put in place to stop people crossing the Mediterranean from Africa’s northern coast.<\/p>\n Between 1 January and 30 September this year, a total of 14,976 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands, an increase of 19.8% on the same period in 2022, according to figures from Spain’s interior ministry.<\/p>\n On Monday, Senegal’s navy said it had intercepted four boats<\/a> over three days with more than 600 people on board.<\/p>\n In August, at least 60 people are believed to have died on a boat<\/a> that was eventually found off Cape Verde, an African island nation that sits on the migration route to the Canaries.<\/p>\n