10 hospitalized in Canaries after Spain rescues migrant boat

Emergency services in Spain's Canary Islands said Wednesday that 10 people suffering from hypothermia have been hospitalized after a migrant boat was rescued.

A total of 52 sub-Saharans including 29 women and nine minors were found onboard the vessel south of the island of Gran Canaria on Tuesday evening and brought to the port of Arguineguin, Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said. Upon disembarkation, Red Cross medics immediately performed resuscitating maneuvers on a toddler on the floor, said a spokeswoman for the Red Cross in the Canary Islands.

Among those admitted to hospital were a 25-year-old woman and a 2-year-old child in serious condition, emergency services said.

A Spanish search and rescue plane was still looking for about 200 people on four migrant boats, which had sent alerts the day before, the service said. They couldn't confirm if the boat rescued Tuesday evening was among those they were searching for.

The Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean has become the main route for West African and Moroccan migrants and asylum-seekers trying to reach Europe. Around 2,600 people have survived the dangerous crossing and reached the Canaries by boat so far this year.

In 2020, some 23,000 people successfully crossed while 849 were reported dead or missing according to the U.N.'s migration agency "Missing Migrants Project."