Boat tragedy in Canary Islands

TWO people died and 14 are missing after a boat packed with Africans capsized yesterday while trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands, officials said.

Rescuers plucked 28 other people from chilly waters off Fuerteventura, part of the Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa, the Civil Guard office on the island said.

Every year thousands of Africans seeking to escape poverty try to reach the Canary Islands or the Spanish mainland across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco.

Spain generally tries to deport such immigrants quickly, but some poor countries refuse to take them back, leaving them in legal limbo to live in squalid holding facilities.