More than 10,000 migrants died this year trying to reach Spain by sea, aid group says

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish migration rights group says more than 10,000 migrants died in 2024 trying to reach Spain by sea. Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that has increasingly been used as a stepping stone to continental Europe. Caminando Fronteras said most of the 10,457 deaths recorded up until Dec. 15 took place in that crossing from West Africa to the Canary Islands. The organization compiles its figures from families of migrants and rescue statistics. It included 1,538 children and 421 women among the dead. April and May were the deadliest months.