As many as 50 people are thought to have died after a migrant boat capsized in waters near Morocco while en route to the Canary Islands.

The ill-fated vessel set off from Mauritania on January 2 carrying 86 passengers. However, after more than a week at sea, the vessel sent a distress signal to the NGO Caminando Fronteras which alerted the Spanish and Moroccan authorities.

Moroccan authorities rescued 36 survivors but a total of 50 people, mainly from Pakistan, are feared to have drowned.

Among those on board were at least three women, including a teenage girl who managed to survive the harrowing ordeal.

“Fifty people have died on a boat headed for the Canary Islands, 44 of whom were Pakistani,” CEO of Caminando Fronteras / Walking Borders Helena Maleno, wrote on X. “They spent 13 agonising days at sea without rescuers reaching them.”

Helena Maleno, founder of Caminando Fronteras, continues to emphasise the lack of attention given to these rescues by the governments of Spain and Morocco.

Following the revelation of the disaster, Fernando Clavijo, President of the Canary Islands, offered his condolences and issued a plea to the Spanish government and the European Union to address the humanitarian crisis.

"We cannot remain mere witnesses. The state and Europe must act. The Atlantic cannot continue to serve as Africa’s graveyard. They cannot turn their backs on this humanitarian tragedy. My condolences to the families of the fifty latest victims," Clavijo wrote on X.

Spain’s maritime rescue service, Salvamento Marítimo, said it had no information on the incident, but added that it had conducted an aerial search after receiving an alert on January 10 about a boat that had set out from Nouakchott in Mauritania.

“We cannot say whether that was the same shipwreck,” a spokesperson said.

Last year alone, 10,457 people died trying to reach Spain irregularly via maritime routes - an average of nearly 30 deaths per day. Whilst nearly 9,800 perished on the Canary Route, making it the deadliest in the world.

Between January and November 2024, arrivals in the Canary Islands included 221 Pakistanis, 54 Bangladeshis, 13 Syrians, 12 Afghans, one Palestinian, and 47 Somalis.