As many as 83 people may have died aboard a boat rescued off Spain's Canary Islands, amid conflicting accounts of the death toll. 

Maritime rescue authorities said on Thursday that five had died, while a migrant rights group reported that survivors said dozens more had died during the crossing.

Three survivors were in a serious condition and were airlifted to hospital, while another 41 disembarked at the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria in the early hours of Thursday, Maritime Rescue said in a statement.

Helena Maleno, founder of the NGO Walking Borders, said on social media that survivors reported that 83 people, including three women and a baby, had died during the crossing. The boat had left The Gambia 27 days earlier.

Reuters could not independently verify that figure. The NGO compiles its data from the families of migrants and the official statistics of those rescued. Its tolls are often higher than the authorities' figures.

Maritime Rescue said it could confirm only that five bodies were aboard the vessel when rescuers reached it. The bodies could not be recovered because of adverse weather conditions.

Maritime Rescue also said one of its boats rescued 44 men of sub-Saharan origin from a boat drifting 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria on Wednesday night. A spokeswoman told AFP that the other alleged victims "have not been found or rescued" and that the alternative death toll could not be confirmed.

'Intolerable'

Canary Islands regional leader Fernando Clavijo said the tragedy underscored the need for a state policy on migration, especially after a deadly migrant surge in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta in July.

"It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap," he said on X.

Alongside Mediterranean routes to Italy and Greece, the Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world's deadliest crossings for migrants fleeing poverty, conflict and persecution.

The long journey from West Africa to the Spanish territory of the Canaries is extremely dangerous due to rough seas, strong currents and the often ramshackle, overloaded vessels.

After peaking in 2024 at more than 46,000, arrivals to the Atlantic archipelago have fallen sharply thanks to tighter patrols and cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

A total of 5,163 migrants reached the Canaries by sea from January 1 to August 31, a 57% drop on the same period last year, according to interior ministry figures.