Migrants found dead near the Canary Islands are believed to have been murdered and thrown overboard after the overcrowded boat broke down at sea.
Between 20 and 30 migrants now in refugee centres in the Canaries are being investigated on suspicion of carrying out the high sea ‘executions’ after accusing victims of stealing water and of practicing witchcraft as supplies on board dwindled, Spanish news outlet OkDiario reports.
Spanish polish are investigating the deaths of at least 70 passengers and were also reportedly ‘close to making the first arrests’ over the incidents that took place on the vessel while it was adrift in the Atlantic Ocean for more than a week before being rescued by Spanish coastguards after it suffered engine problems.
Police have yet to comment on the website’s report saying they had witness statements claiming ‘some murders’ were committed on the boat.
Survivors are said to have told investigators several migrants also died of thirst and hunger and others threw themselves overboard after suffering delirium caused by dehydration.
It was not clear this morning if any women or children are among the alleged victims.
Spanish coastguards rescued around 250 people on board the stricken boat west of the city of Dakhla in the disputed Western Sahara territory, 265 miles from the Canaries, following an August 24 alert from a passing merchant vessel.
Survivors are understood to have told officials after they were brought ashore at Arguineguin on Gran Canaria’s southern coast on August 25 around 320 people started the journey before they ran into problems at sea.
In June Spanish police confirmed they had launched an investigation after the bodies of five migrants were found in the sea off the Balearic Islands with their hands and feet bound.
Initial speculation centred on the possibility they could have been murdered and thrown overboard.
The families of the men who died, all Somalians, later revealed they were shackled in a death ritual after they perished from starvation as they tried to reach Europe.
They had been on a boat that was rescued on May 8 by Spanish coastguards 62 miles from Alicante, with 16 male survivors suffering dehydration and other health problems and a dead man on board.
The vessel had left Algeria a fortnight earlier before it was left adrift following engine problems.
During their trip they ended up having to eat just one date a day and drink their own urine, with the men whose bodies were recovered from the Mediterranean said to have fatally opted to drink sea water to try to survive.
Red Cross chiefs said after their rescue: ‘One of the people rescued had eaten toothpaste because it was the only thing he had.
‘He didn’t want to let go of the tube when he reached dry land.’
In 2024, Spain received a record number of migrants who crossed illegally via sea, with more than 61,000 people having arrived on boat.
In a recently-published report, an organisation called Caminando Fronteras said it had recorded the deaths of nearly 2,000 migrants trying to reach Spain by sea from Africa in the first five months of this year.
Fifty-two of those had been making the Strait of Gibraltar crossing, the group said as it revealed the deadliest route was the one from Western Africa to the Canary Islands.
Of the 1,865 people recorded as dead or missing, it said 112 were women and 342 children.
Caminando Fronteras also revealed 38 boats had disappeared with all people on board between the start of January and end of May 2025.
