Arinaga, Gran Canaria (Spain) (AFP) – Hamido had heard nothing from his wife and child in 10 days since they set sail from Western Sahara for the Canary Islands — but then a boat was found with many dead onboard.
Frantic and distraught, Hamido — an Ivorian national working in France — tried to contact the Spanish police and the authorities in Gran Canaria for news of his family.
But no one could help him, so he flew to the island where he learned via the media that his wife had died on the boat, and his six-year-old daughter — who had watched her die — was completely traumatised.
“This man contacted us, he was absolutely desperate because no one would give him any information,” said Helena Maleno of Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish NGO that helps migrant boats in distress and families searching for loved ones.
For worried relatives, trying to find information about people lost on the notoriously dangerous route to the Spanish…