MADRID (AP) — About 50 migrants were missing after their boat overturned some 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Spain’s Canary Island of El Hierro in the Atlantic Ocean, Spanish media reported Monday.
The national marine rescue service said one of its helicopters rescued nine people who were found clinging to the boat Monday morning following a warning call from a merchant vessel in the area.
State news agency Efe said that once transferred to El Hierro airport, the rescued migrants reported that 60 of them had set sail nine days ago and that the open-topped wooden boat ran into problems Saturday.
The rescue service was unable to say how many people may have been on the boat and no one was available to comment at Civil Guard police offices in the Canary Island capital of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Efe said the migrants were of sub-Saharan origin. There were no details on which country they had sailed from.
French sports minister calls for sanctions after Monaco player tapes over anti
Ancient stone tools found in Ukraine date may be oldest in Europe
Reid Detmers, bullpen limit Boston to 3 hits, Angels beat Red Sox 7
Got kids? Here's what to know about filing your 2023 taxes
What a blast to work at NASA. Space agency is sky
Dead whale in New Jersey had a fractured skull among numerous injuries, experts find
UN climate chief says humans have 2 years left 'to save the world'
The Masters is at the center of the golf fashion universe
Pope trip to Luxembourg, Belgium confirmed for September, 2 weeks after challenging Asia visit
Odysseus moon lander sends new images in its last hours
Supreme Court rejects an appeal from a Canadian man once held at Guantanamo
Archaeologists unearth the largest cemetery ever discovered in Gaza and find rare lead sarcophogi