The head of Lanzarote's Emergency Services Consortium has said a crying two-year-old child was thrown from a migrant boat into the water, and separately, three men have been arrested over the alleged gang-rape of a woman aboard another migrant vessel.
Enrique Espinosa made the disclosure during a local radio show, while being questioned about the arrests of three men suspected of gang-raping a woman during an Atlantic crossing in which more than a dozen people are thought to have died.
Emergency chief describes 'terrible things'
Asked whether he had witnessed "something as terrible as that", Mr Espinosa told Cronicas Radio programme 'A Buena Hora': "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."
He continued: "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, who has served in his role for nearly 15 years and operates from the fire station in Arrecife, provided no further details about when the incident involving the child took place or whether any arrests had been made.
Arrests over alleged sexual assault
The three suspects, all in their twenties, were apprehended after the alleged victim disclosed her ordeal when the craft reached Lanzarote following a Spanish coastguard rescue. The sexual offences are said to have occurred at sea on September 16 on an inflatable dinghy at the centre of a rescue operation the same day when 65 survivors were helped and three bodies pulled from the water.
A National Police spokesperson confirmed: "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 spokesperson added: "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."
Officers from the National Police's Family and Women's Assistance Unit led the investigation. A witness from the same vessel was located who stated he had witnessed the incident. The three detainees have been remanded to prison following their appearance in court. The suspects' nationalities remain undisclosed, and an investigating judge is overseeing an ongoing inquiry.
Rescue operation and missing migrants
More than 450 migrants have been rescued off Lanzarote in recent days. Four boats carrying 262 people were intercepted by Spanish coastguards near the island between Wednesday afternoon and the early hours of yesterday morning.
The sub-Saharans aboard, reported to have departed from Tan-Tan in southwestern Morocco, informed authorities after reaching Arrecife that another 10 people had been lost overboard during the crossing and they had exhausted their water supplies during the final part of their five days at sea. Non-governmental organisations who helped the migrants have since suggested the number missing could be around 14, pushing the potential death toll to 17.
Some of the victims are reported to have plunged into the sea during the rescue operation as panic gripped passengers when Spanish coastguard vessels, named Salvamar Al Nair and Salvamar Acrux, attempted to assist them.
