The migrants had been without food and water for two days, which may have contributed to the panic and capsizing of the boat.
11:15•Updated 11:29
Nine people, including a child, have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off the island of El Hierro in the Canary Islands on Saturday, Euronews tells.
The rescue center in Tenerife received an emergency call early on Saturday from one of the people on the boat, after which the Spanish rescue service managed to save 27 people.
– They [siirtolaiset] were at sea for at least two days without food, and it seems that panic set in when the boat capsized, the director of the regional administration of the Canary Islands Anselmo Pestana told reporters on Saturday.
48 migrants are still missing, and the search is scheduled to continue on Sunday.
The authorities have estimated that it may be the deadliest sea crossing from Africa to the Canary Islands in 30 years.
According to Spanish authorities, the migrants on the boat were from Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.
Source: Reuters