Current:Home > FinanceCruise ship rescues 68 migrants adrift in Atlantic -AssetPath
Cruise ship rescues 68 migrants adrift in Atlantic
View
Date:2025-04-19 13:39:42
A cruise ship rescued 68 people adrift on a fishing boat off the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the cruise operator, Oceania Cruises, said Thursday.
The ship, the Insignia, was near the end of a 180-day trip around the world when it received a distress call about the boat.
"We can confirm that Insignia rescued 68 people from a vessel in distress between Cape Verde and Tenerife and [brought] them onboard for medical assistance and provided food, drinks, clothing and a safe place to rest," Oceania Cruises said in a statement to CBS News. "We have coordinated next steps with authorities in Tenerife, and they will be taking over the care of the rescued people."
Henry Tom, a cruise ship passenger from Vancouver, Canada, told CBS News that it took a couple of hours to rescue the people on the fishing boat and that about five people on the boat were dead.
The Associated Press reported the crew was able to recover three of the five bodies on the small boat, known as pirogue, but were unable to recover the remaining two because of bad weather. The news agency said an oil tanker first spotted the drifting boat south of the island of Tenerife. Authorities diverted the Insignia cruise ship to rescue the migrants.
The migrants were from Africa, Henry Tom, the passenger, said. "We believe they were from Senegal. Not 100% sure," he said. He said they were placed in the Insignia Lounge, where the ship hosts live performances, and that passengers were donating shoes and clothing for the migrants, whom he said had been at sea between 20 and 30 days.
Spain recorded 55,618 migrants arrived by sea — most of them to the Canary Islands — last year, almost double the number from 2022. More than 23,000 have landed so far this year, according to the Interior Ministry.
- In:
- Immigration
- Cruise Ship
Erielle Delzer is a verification producer for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and social media. Contact Erielle at erielle.delzer@cbsnews.com.
Twitter Facebook InstagramveryGood! (6)
Related
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- The Daily Money: Child tax credit to rise?
- Yellowstone’s Kevin Costner Introduces Adorable New Family Member
- Sports is the leading edge in the fight against racism. Read 29 Black Stories in 29 Days.
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- The crane attacked potential mates. But then she fell for her keeper
- Elmo Wants to Reassure You There Are Sunny Days Ahead After His Viral Check-in
- WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith signs with Storm; ex-MVP Tina Charles lands with Dream
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- U.S. travel advisory for Jamaica warns Americans to reconsider visits amid spate of murders
Ranking
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Fun. Friendship. International closeness. NFL's flag football championships come to USA.
- Firm announces $25M settlement over role in Flint, Michigan, lead-tainted water crisis
- An armed man found dead at an amusement park researched mass shootings. His plan is still a mystery
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- US center’s tropical storm forecasts are going inland, where damage can outstrip coasts
- Arkansas police chief arrested and charged with kidnapping
- Probe into dozens of Connecticut state troopers finds 7 who ‘may have’ falsified traffic stop data
Recommendation
Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton to depart Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025
'Inflection point': Gov. Ron DeSantis sends Florida National, State Guard to Texas
We’re Confident You’ll Want to See Justin and Hailey Bieber’s PDA Photo
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Lawmakers move to help veterans at risk of losing their homes
With no coaching job in 2024, Patriot great Bill Belichick's NFL legacy left in limbo
OxyContin marketer agrees to pay $350M rather than face lawsuits