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SIXTEEN refugees were still missing today after their rubber boat overturned near the Canary Islands.
At least 41 people were rescued and one body was recovered south of the island of Fuerteventura on Wednesday, according to authorities in the Spanish islands.
According to survivors’ testimonies, a total of 58 people had left Cape Bojador, in the disputed north-west African territory of Western Sahara, Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said today.
The vast majority of those rescued were from the Maghreb region.
Spain’s government delegation in the Canary Islands confirmed that 16 people from the boat had been reported missing.
Search operations have been called off due to the continuous arrival of other migrant boats in need of rescue, the Maritime Rescue Service said.
Thousands of people a year attempt the highly risky Atlantic voyage from north-west and west Africa to the Canaries.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, 1,176 people were reported to have died or gone missing on the route last year, a figure that it admits is probably a vast underestimate.
