DESPERATE SOULS

Migrant boat found off Canaries.
Spanish coastguards have intercepted a rickety wooden boat with more than 100 would-be illegal immigrants from Africa aboard, at least two of whom have died. Another 30 are seriously ill. Reports say the boat may have been adrift for one or two months.

It was spotted off the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, and is being towed into the port of Los Cristianos, where medical teams are waiting. Hundreds of illegal immigrants attempt the crossing to Spain every year.

In the latest incident, the 20-metre wooden boat was in a bad state and the sea was so rough that the coastguards were struggling to bring the vessel into port. The Red Cross says the craft was sighted about 30km off Los Cristianos, at the southern tip of the island of Tenerife.

Most African migrants attempt the shorter route across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco.
But as this route has become increasingly well policed, some have been switching to the much longer and more dangerous crossing to the Canary Islands.