9 killed, 48 missing as boat sinks off Spanish island

KABUL (Pajhwok): At least nine people were killed and 48 others went missing after a migrant boat capsized off Span’s Canary Islands, a media report said on Sunday.

Eighty-four people were on board and 27 were saved after rescuers responded to a distress call received shortly after midnight from El Hierro, one of the islands in the Atlantic archipelago, the Voice of America (VOA) reported.

It said nine people lost their lives and 48 others were missing in the incident.

The latest tragedy "again underlines the dangerousness of the Atlantic route," Canaries regional President Fernando Clavijo wrote on X.

"We need Spain and the EU to act decisively in the face of a structural humanitarian tragedy" as lives are lost "meters from Europe's southern border," he said.

At least 39 migrants had been killed after their boat sank off in Canary Islands in September.

kk/mud