More than 80 migrants dead, including baby, after boat found adrift near Canary Islands following 26 days at sea
More than 80 people have died, including one baby, after a canoe was found adrift at sea near the Canary Islands.
The small boat set off nearly a month ago with 128 occupants and was rescued early this morning, with only 45 survivors and five bodies remaining on board.
The vessel was located by one of the Spain's Maritime Rescue planes on Wednesday afternoon.
The Civil Guard has informed the NGO Caminando Fronteras that the markings on the hull correspond to the missing canoe that departed on September 7 from the Gambian coast.
Four women and a child were onboard the canoe when it set off from Gambia.
The rescuers were forced to leave the five bodies they found in the canoe due to the rough sea conditions.
Survivors, who were brought on to land at the Arguineguín dock, told the Red Cross they left Gambia "with more than one hundred people."
It comes as thousands of protesters have spilled onto the streets of cities across Spain amid fury at Pedro Sanchez's handling of the Ceuta migrant catastrophe.
Demonstrations were held across the country on Wednesday, with protesters calling on the Spanish Prime Minister to resign over his response to the crisis.
The rallies were called by a host of city councils across Spain, as well as opposition parties Partido Popular (PP) and Vox.
More than 50,000 people attended the demonstration in Madrid, where PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo addressed the crowds.
He said: "A Spanish city has been invaded, occupied and, unfortunately, this happened with the knowledge of the Government of Spain."
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Meanwhile, Vox leader Santiago Abascal accused Mr Sanchez of being "at the service, like a lackey, of the Moroccan regime".
The protests come after more than 72,000 people stormed the border of the North African enclave from Morocco last month, with local residents branding the influx "an invasion".
Although the majority of the migrants have since been returned, thousands remain in the enclave in makeshift camps, some of which have been torched by furious locals as unrest grips the territory.
Opposition parties have accused the socialist leader of abandoning residents of Ceuta, where sexual assaults have reportedly been occurring daily since the influx.
Almost daily protests have been taking place in Ceuta, with another demonstration organised in the enclave on Wednesday as rallies spread across Spain.
Locals could be heard chanting "Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta must be defended" as they marched through the streets.
On Wednesday, a report compiled by Spanish police accused Moroccan authorities of showing "total permissiveness" as hordes of migrants stormed the border.
Mr Sanchez had previously insisted that officials in the North African country were not to blame for the unprecedented influx.
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