- At least three Africans have died in a packed boat carrying 77 migrants herding to the waters off Gran Canaria, one of Spain's Canary Islands, rescuers have said. A Spanish air force plane spotted a boat which is reported to have set off from Gambian.
Reports said the survivors, including 10 minors, were taken to the port of Arguineguin on the island, with a number of them in dire need of medical care.
"The migrants, who had been at sea for eight to 10 days, were in bad condition on arrival in Arguineguin, a port on the south coast of Gran Canaria," a Red Cross official said.
In recent years thousands of Africans are believed to have died by drowning or from exposure when trying to reach Spain.
Poverty and hunger force these people to gamble with their lives to cross deeps seas with unsafe vessels to seeks better paying jobs in Europe.
Officials said despite the severe risks of crossing from Africa to Europe by sea, including heightened vigilance by the authorities, immigrants take advantage of favourable weather conditions and the use of bigger and better vessels.
Spanish officials said Illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa have increasingly opted for the sea route to the Canary Islands since Madrid tightened security in 2005 around Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish enclaves in North Africa that were being used as a bridge into Europe.
Immigrants traditionally attempted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to get to the Spanish mainland but a crackdown there has led traffickers to increasingly use longer and more dangerous routes, including to Spain's Canary Islands located to the west of Morocco.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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