GUARDAMAR CALIOPE

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Latest news

Search for missing migrants suspended

On Oct 2 the 'Guardamar Caliope' and the other involved rescue forces have suspended the search for mortal remains of the shipwreck of a cayuco with at least 84 people on board given the low probability of results, about six kilometres off the coast of the island of El Hierro. On Sep 29 at 4..15 p.m. the crew of a helicopter of the Guardia Civil had located what they initially thought could be the body of a person adrift. The 'Guardamar Calíope' approached the poiision indicated by the coordinates provided to check the information and discovered that it was a cloth bag, a backpack from the remains of the shipwreck. 27 people survived the shipwreck, and nine bodies were recovered. Among the missing were four children. On the afternoon of Sep 29, two of the five survivors who were taken to the hospital in El Hierro have been discharged, and the other three are making good progress. Two people left the hospital on Sep 28, a few hours after being admitted with mild hypothermia. Autopsies have been carried out in the municipality of La Frontera on the bodies of the nine deceased who were recovered from the sea by the emergency services on the same night the cayuco capsized.

63 migrants rescued off La Restinga in search area for 48 missing people

On Oct 1 at 8.11 p.m. Canary Islands time, the MRCC of Salvamento Marítimo in Tenerife has coordinated a search operation for a drifting cayuco off El Hierro. The search area coincidds with therecent emergency with 48 stiull missing people. The cayuco with 63 people on board, among them 56 men, five women and two minors, was located, in apparent good condition, by the Sasemar 103 aircraft about seven nautical miles southsouthwest of La Restinga. The 'Guardamar Calíope' proceeded to assist and transferred the migrants to La Estaca due to the bad state of the sea.

Hope to rescue some of 48 missing people fading

Dozens of people were believed to have died when a migrant boat sank off the coast of the Canary Island of El Hierro. There was still no trace of at least 48 missing people. After the accident on the night of Sep 28, nine bodies were recovered. 27 migrants were rescued, including four minors. The search operations were resumed after daybreak. Three ships and three helicopters were deployed. The hopes of rescuing some of the missing people alive were rapidly fading. The boat had set off from Nouadhibou. The people on the boat had gone for two days without food or water and called the authorities themselves. When rescuers arrived, they rushed to one side, causing it to tip and capsize. The boat may have originally been carrying 90 people. Involved in the SAR operation were the 'LS Hades', the helicopter Helo GES MI71, the CUCO helicopter of the Guardia Civil, the Coast Guard patrol boat 'Río Tajo' and the 'Guardamar Caliope'.