MULTIPLE arrests have been made over the deaths of 70 migrants on a hellish boat trip – after reports of executions and people throwing themselves overboard.
A murder investigation was launched in the Canary Islands after coastguards rescued a stranded migrant boat with 250 onboard.
AFPThe migrants were crammed onto a wooden ‘cayuco’ canoe, like this one[/caption]
AFPIt arrived in the Canary Islands from West Africa with around 70 fewer people than when it set off (stock image)[/caption]
GettyThe 250 survivors were rescued by the Spanish coastguard and brought to the Canary Islands[/caption]
Spanish cops were combing migrant centres on the islands for a group who had allegedly turned against their fellow passengers as the boat drifted in the Atlantic.
Today, they revealed that “several people” had been arrested.
Some passengers are said to have been slaughtered in cold blood after being accused of witchcraft – while others died of dehydration or threw themselves overboard in a state of delirium.
Police were unable to confirm a death toll.
They are now grilling the suspects in order to establish exactly what transpired on the horror boat trip.
The nightmare journey began when a cayuco set off from Western Sahara for the Canary Islands.
There were apparently 320 people on the boat when it left Africa, but only 251 when it was rescued by Spanish coastguards.
It’s thought the boat’s engine broke down shortly into the journey, meaning the migrants were stranded under the hot sun with limited supplies.
Reports say some passengers were initially accused of theft or depleting the water supply.
But the these became more extreme as the grim journey continued – eventually building to cries of witchcraft.
While some of the passengers died of natural causes, up to 30 of the younger male passengers are suspected of plotting against and killing an unspecified number of their boatmates in cold blood.
The boat was spotted adrift a merchant ship on Sunday, August 24.
Morocco, which shares responsibility for the waters with Spain, said it didn’t have the resources to deal with the emergency.
Spanish coastguards rescued around 250 people on board the stricken boat west of the city of Dakhla, 265 miles from the Canaries.
Survivors told rescuers on their arrival to the port of Arguineguin they had been at sea for around 11 days.
They confirmed to police that dozens had died from a lack of water but that some were deliberately executed.
Unconfirmed reports have suggested that police were seeking 20 – 30 migrants over unnatural deaths on the boat.
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