124 migrants rescued off Spain's Canary Islands

Shutterstock [For illustration]

Spanish coastguards rescued 124 migrants, including young children and a person needing a wheelchair, from two wooden boats in the seas off the Canary Islands on Thursday.

One boat carrying 66 people was located 10 nautical miles south of Gran Canaria, Spain's Red Cross said. The second, carrying 58 people including two women, was found nearby.

The EU border agency Frontex says the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is currently the busiest route for irregular migration from West Africa into the European Union.

The number of people making the perilous journey between January 1 and March 15, reached 12,393, compared with 2,178 during the same period last year, Spain's Interior Ministry said this month.

The island group is around 100 miles (160 km) from West Africa at the closest point. All the migrants were taken to Gran Canaria.

More from International News

On Virgin Radio today

  • Non Stop Hits

    2:00am - 8:00am

    The UAE's #1 Hit Music Station with no interruptions

  • The Weekend Breakfast

    8:00am - 11:00am

    Playing 10 hits in a row every hour, all weekend!

Trending on Virgin Radio