Over one thousand migrants reach Spain's Canary Islands in single day

Migrants wait to disembark from a Spanish coast guard vessel in the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, October 21, 2023. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

ARGUINEGUIN, GRAN CANARIA (Reuters) - Over 1,000 migrants arrived in Spain's Canary Islands in a single day on Saturday after making the dangerous journey from Africa, including on a boat carrying 320 people that rescuers said was the most packed vessel they had ever seen.

The Red Cross, which was helping to treat the migrants, said a wooden boat that arrived on the island of El Hierro marked a record number of arrivals in a single boat. The previous record was a boat carrying 271 people that arrived in El Hierro on Oct. 3.