Migrants Lost As Boat Capsizes

Spanish air-sea rescue services were searching waters around the Canary island of Fuerteventura yesterday after 15 illegal immigrants from Africa fell overboard while being transferred from a fishing boat to a rescue launch.

They were among 31 immigrants whose boat capsized while they were being transferred to the launch early yesterday. The missing men, presumed dead, would bring to 104 the number of illegal immigrants known to have died in Spanish waters this year. Spain's ombudsman is investigating how a boat carrying immigrants, at least 37 of whom drowned, was left to battle through rough seas in the Bay of Cadiz for almost an hour after a merchant ship alerted rescue services.

Immigrant organisations have complained that Spanish coastal patrol vessels are not properly prepared for picking up illegal immigrants. Another 15 immigrants died as they were being transferred from their boat to a Civil Guard launch, near Fuerteventura in July.

More than 16,000 immigrants were caught last year trying to get into Spain in small boats crossing the Straits of Gibraltar or heading for the Canary Islands from Morocco.