The trail of the lethal Canarian route reaches the Caribbean in a month that adds about 70 dead
The tragedies have not ceased on the Canarian route in the first month of the year. About 70 people have died trying to get to the Canary Islands in January. The largest wreck recorded so far from 2025 took place on the coasts of the Western Sahara last day 16, leaving with the disappearance of 50 people in the Atlantic. The trail of lethality of this journey has reached the Caribbean, where in just a week two cayucos have been located with bodies in advanced state of decomposition. The bodies correspond to African migrants tried to reach Europe.
This Sunday a boat was found with several bodies in a state of decomposition to the southeast of Trinidad and Tobago. In a statement, the country's coast guard reported that the Cayuco remembered another found in 2021 that came from West Africa. The authorities consider “ reasonable '' assume that it was a group of migrants who were heading to the Canary Islands.
Four days later, another boat appeared in San Cristóbal and Nieves with 13 bodies in a state of decomposition. The local police indicated that, given the state of the bodies, it was difficult to know if there were children among the deceased.
It is not the first time that the currents push the remains of African vessels on the other side of the ocean. In August 2024, a barge with 14 bodies was found on the coasts of the Dominican Republic. In 2021, another 14 bodies appeared in a Cayuco in Trinidad and Tobago. The authorities then confirmed that the boat had left Mauritania and that all the victims were men.
The worst shipwreck of 2025
The worst shipwreck of which there are records so far this year took place on January 16. A Cayuco that came out of Mauritania wreck off the coast of the Western Sahara. At least 50 people died, most Pakistan. The vessel departed from the coast of Western Africa on January 2 with 86 people on board, including 66 Pakistani. After 13 days of crossing, the precarious boat was accidentded, as reported by the Caminando Bordras collective.
Survivors can return to Pakistan. The country's foreign ministry is coordinating the repatriation of the 22 Pakistani who were rescued alive by the Moroccan authorities. A team from the Pakistan embassy in Rabat moved to Dakhla, in the Western Sahara, to attend migrants.
The Pakistan executive is also facilitating the return to his country of eleven citizens who were in Mauritania, waiting to take the immigration route to the Canary Islands. '' These people have voluntarily chose to return home and will be part of a separate repatriation process, '' the authorities announced.
The danger of the Canarian route has also caused them to reach the Cayucos Islands with corpses on board. The first day of the year, a Cayuco with 60 people came to Tenerife, two of them deceased. In this way, 2025 follow the wake last year, when they lost their lives at least 9,757 people.
