At least seven people have been killed when a boat carrying asylum seekers capsized off the Spanish Canary Islands, international media reported.
Al Jazeera, citing Spanish authorities, reported that the incident occurred on Tuesday, May 27, when the small boat capsized a few meters from the shore.
Rescuers said that four women and three girls were among the dead.
According to reports, the ship was carrying more than 100 refugees, and while the children were being disembarked, it capsized due to the sudden movement of the passengers, causing them to fall into the sea.
A Red Cross spokesman told Spanish media that the exact number of missing people is still unknown, but it is likely that the number of passengers was more than a hundred.
The Canary Islands are known as one of the main routes for asylum seekers to Europe, and last year nearly 47,000 asylum seekers, mainly from Mali, Senegal and Morocco, reached Spain via this route.
