A two-year-old Malian girl who was rescued from a packed migrant boat off Spain's Canary Islands last week has died in hospital, local authorities said.

The girl needed to be resuscitated after she was found on board a boat near Gran Canaria among 52 sub-Saharan Africans on Tuesday, who were brought by Spain's maritime rescue service to the port of Arguineguin.

Rescuers handed the unconscious girl to a team of Red Cross nurses who desperately worked to revive her on the pavement of the port, in images broadcast on Spanish TV last week.

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She was then rushed to a hospital in Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria, where she died on Sunday, said a spokeswoman for the regional government's health department.

The girl had been in a critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit since her rescue, the spokeswoman added without giving further details.

Local media said the girl, who was traveling to Gran Canaria with her mother and older sister, had suffered a cardiac arrest during the attempted crossing.

The Canary Islands are a key entry point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. In 2020, a total of 23,023 migrants landed on the islands, a figure almost eight times higher than the 2,687 who arrived in 2019. 

The numbers surged after increased patrols along Spain's southern coast dramatically reduced crossings via the Mediterranean.

At its shortest, the sea crossing to the islands from the Moroccan coast is more than 100 kilometers, but it is a notoriously dangerous route because of strong currents, while vessels are typically overcrowded and in poor condition.