Spain stops 19 suspected of torture and murder after 50 disappear from the migrant boat

Spanish police said they stopped 19 people suspected of murder and torture after more than 50 people who disappeared from a migrant boat that went from Senegal to the Canary Islands.

Police suspect that some of the victims have been accused of being “witches” after several incidents during the trip, including engine failure, bad weather and food shortages.

The wooden ship was rescued south of Gran Canaria on August 24 with 248 survivors on board, the Spanish national police announced.

But officials think that around 300 people were originally on the boat and that some had been thrown over board.

The survivors told the police that some of their passenger colleagues had started to “attack dozens of people, beating them and abusing them in various ways,” a police press release.

“In some cases, they threw migrants into the living sea and refused to save those who fell by accident.”

Alleged murders have also been documented “simply because some people protested or expressed their dissatisfaction with the trip conditions,” said the statement.

A male passenger died in hospital after being seriously ill when the ship was intercepted, police said.

People on board included people from Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, local media reported.

The 19 suspects are in pre -trial detention faced with charges of facilitation of irregular immigration, homicide, aggression and torture.

Spain is one of the front line entry points for irregular migration to Europe, most of them entering the Canary Islands.

Nearly 47,000 migrants reached the archipelago in 2024, establishing a record for a second year, but the figures have been much lower this year, said the Spanish Interior Ministry.