This week, a baby girl was delivered on a migrant boat bound for Spain’s Canary Islands, marking the end of a perilous voyage that has frequently meant death for asylum-seekers crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The newborn was seen resting in her mother’s lap in a picture that showed the moment the people on the dinghy were saved.
As Spain celebrated the Epiphany holiday, also called Three Kings Day, which commemorates the day the three wise men presented gifts to the infant Jesus, the boat was sighted off the island of Lanzarote on Monday, according to rescuers.
“Christmas ends in the Canary Islands with the rescue of a baby born in the middle of a voyage on the sea,” the Spanish government’s marine rescue service, Salvamento Mar Timo, stated on X on Wednesday.
The mother and her newborn kid were taken to the city of Arrecife in eastern Lanzarote after rescue teams safely rescued everyone on the dinghy, according to the agency. They were transferred to a neighboring hospital, according to local media.
A request for comment on the woman and child’s status on Thursday was not immediately answered by Salvamento Mar Timo. According to Reuters, which cited regional government and medical authorities, the newborn is a girl.
The agency’s rescue vessel’s commander, Domingo Trujillo, told channel TVE that rescuers had known the dinghy included a pregnant woman.
According to Reuters, he claimed that the surprise was a completely nude kid who had been delivered ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes earlier. He claimed that in order to stop the baby’s wailing, he covered it and gave it a pat.
The helicopter’s commander, Alvaro Serrano Perez, told Reuters that this was the greatest present we could have had on Three Kings Day.
There has been an increase in the number of migrants arriving in the Canary Islands from nations including Morocco, Senegal, and Mali.
In 2024, the Canary Islands Route had a second straight year high, with about 47,000 arrivals, which accounted for 73% of Spain’s irregular migration, according to the Interior Ministry of the country.
According to the Spanish migration rights organization Caminando Fronteras, a record 10,457 persons lost their lives or went missing while attempting to enter Spain via irregular sea routes last year, with the trip to the Canary Islands accounting for the greatest number of fatalities. The information could not be independently confirmed by NBC News.
Salvamento Mar Timo stated that Trujillo, the ship’s captain, had previously been rescued in this manner. According to the report, he handled a similar situation in 2020 when a woman had just given birth on a dinghy traveling across the Atlantic.
“We take this opportunity to express our admiration for Domingo and the rest of the crew who every day give their best to assist thousands of people trying to reach the Canary Islands,” said the organization.