Three people died and one was left in a critical condition following Spanish sea rescue operations off the island of Lanzarote, one of the islands in the Spanish Canary Islands archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.

Two sea rescue vessels, Al Nair and Acrux, as well as a helicopter, carried out the operations on Wednesday (September 16), with local media reporting that a total of 82 migrants of sub-Saharan African origin were brought to land. At least 16 people had to be transferred to hospitals after arriving at the port in Arrecife.

According to some local media reports, including Europa Press, the Al Nair rescued 63 people of sub-Saharan origin, including 56 men, four women, and the bodies of the three deceased, while the Acrux rescued a further 19 people, also of sub-Saharan origin, including 15 men and four women, and disembarked at the port of Arrecife early Wednesday. The two figures combined give an initial total of 82 people.

Spanish news agency EFE, however, reported that Spain’s Maritime Rescue had initially provided an occupant count of 82 people, three of whom had died and one of whom was evacuated by helicopter. Once the group reached the port of Arrecife though, Maritime Rescue revised the figure down to 68 people, including the three fatalities.

The revised figure consists of 65 survivors, 57 men and eight women, and the three deceased. It is unclear from the available reports why the initial figure of 82 was subsequently reduced to 68.

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Morocco reportedly requested Spain to take over operation

Citing a spokesperson for Spain's Maritime Rescue Service (Salvamento Marítimo),  EFE reported that some of the boat's occupants fell into the sea around 04:30 hours (03:30 GMT) as the two rescue vessels sent to help from Lanzarote were attempting to bring them safely onto their decks.

Everyone who had fallen into the water was recovered, EFE reported. The sources did not specify whether the three deceased, two men and one woman, died during that specific incident or had passed before help arrived.

One of the survivors was evacuated by helicopter in a critical condition during the journey to land.

Maritime Rescue explained that the inflatable boat was in waters under Morocco's rescue responsibility, but Morocco asked Spain to take over the operation due to a current lack of resources, according to EFE. The occupants of the vessel received initial medical assistance at the port of Arrecife a few hours later.

The NGO Caminando Fronteras claims that the rescue location matches one of the alerts it had provided to Spanish authorities: the departure of an inflatable boat from Tan-Tan, in southern Morocco. However, it noted that, according to its information, that vessel had departed with 82 people.

This is the second major tragedy reported so far this September on the Canary Islands migration route, which is considered by the United Nations to be one of the most dangerous in the world.

On September 3, Maritime Rescue saved 44 people south of Gran Canaria who had spent 26 days in the Atlantic after departing from Gambia toward the islands in a wooden fishing boat known as a cayuco.

The rescuers reported that there were at least five bodies on the vessel that they could not recover due to rough sea conditions. However, information provided by survivors and their families indicates that the total death toll from that crossing may have been as many as 83 people.

With EFE and Europa Press