17 MIGRANTS have died trying to land in the Balearic Islands by boat after spending 15 days adrift.
It is one of the biggest migrant boat tragedies involving the perilous route from North Africa to the Balearics.
Speaking to regional broadcaster, IB3, Maritime Rescue chief Jose Ramon Crespi said: “The 17 people who are missing were thrown into the sea by their colleagues as they were dying.”
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Two survivors were rescued some 15 miles off Cap de Cala Figuera in the south-west of Mallorca at around 3am on Tuesday.
They had travelled from Algeria and were suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.
The duo told their rescuers what had happened and were taken to the Son Espases Hospital in Palma.
Maritime Rescue deployed a helicopter to search the vicinity of the craft but found no sign of any bodies.
Jose Ramon Crespi said the rescue effort was triggered after a ferry going from Barcelona to Algeria reported the sighting of a boat with two people on board.
A Maritime Rescue vessel from Puerto Portals was scrambled to rescue them and took them to the Port of Palma.
The president of the Balearics government, Marga Prohens, has demanded that the central government come up with a plan to deal with the influx of migrant boats in the islands.
“We cannot normalise this tragedy and the Spanish government cannot continue to look the other way.”
“We demand a specific plan to face the migratory emergency that the Islands are experiencing and to act, once and for all, in the face of this humanitarian drama,” she added.
The Caminando Fronteras association estimates that the route to the Balearics has claimed 507 victims in the first five months of the year.
The total has swelled as boat skippers take advantage of the better summer weather to make extra crossings between June and August.
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