A two-year-old boy was thrown overboard by human traffickers in front of his mother because they didn't want to hear him crying, an emergency services official has said.
Enrique Espinosa, who is in charge of Lanzarote's Emergency Services Consortium in Spain, spoke about the horror incident when he was interviewed on radio about a recent alleged gang rape on a migrant boat.
When asked by the radio host if he had ever seen "something as terrible as that", Mr Espinosa said: "There are even more terrible things than that. On a boat, they threw a two-year-old child who was crying with his mother into the water. They are terrible things."
First and second-class passengers
He added: "There are first and second-class passengers. Those in second class go below and those in first class sit on top of them.
When they start telling you things, you see that it borders on a lack of humanity. An end must be put to all this trafficking by mafias."
Mr Espinosa did not make it clear when exactly the incident happened. The radio interview took place after police arrested three men accused of gang-raping a woman on a migrant boat during an Atlantic crossing, in which around 17 people are believed to have died.
Rescues off Lanzarote
More than 450 migrants have been rescued off Lanzarote in the past few days. This includes 262 people on board four vessels intercepted by Spanish coastguards near Lanzarote between Wednesday afternoon and the early hours of yesterday morning (Thursday).
The alleged sex crimes that led to the arrests announced on Wednesday are understood to have taken place at high sea on September 16 on an inflatable boat.
The sub-Saharans on board, said to have left Tan-Tan in southwestern Morocco, told the authorities after they reached the Lanzarote capital Arrecife that another 10 people had gone overboard during the crossing and they had run out of water during the latter part of their five days at sea.
Possible death toll
Non-governmental organisations who assisted the migrants after their arrival on European soil have subsequently said the number missing could be around 14, bringing the possible death toll to 17.
Some of the victims are said to have ended up in the sea during the rescue because the migrant boat's occupants began to panic as the Spanish coastguard vessels, called Salvamar Al Nair and Salvamar Acrux, tried to aid them.
A spokesman for the National Police said on Wednesday: "National Police officers in Arrecife have arrested three men aged 21, 25 and 30 as alleged perpetrators of a multiple sexual assault committed against a woman during the crossing of a small boat bound for Lanzarote.
"The incident took place on September 16 at sea, in what are believed to be international waters.
"After the vessel arrived at the port of Arrecife, the victim informed rescue services that she had been sexually assaulted by several men during the crossing.
"Given her serious state of health, the necessary resources were activated to provide her with initial assistance and she subsequently received specialized care as a victim at police premises."
Confirming the investigation had been led by officers from the National Police's Family and Women's Assistance Unit, a police spokesman said: "A witness from the same vessel was located who stated that he had witnessed the incident
"The three detainees have been remanded to prison following their appearance in court."
Their nationalities have not yet been revealed. An investigating judge is leading an ongoing criminal probe to decide whether to recommend formal charges at a later stage.
