A court in Spain has initiated an investigation into the death of a German woman who was killed by a shark while sailing 270 nautical miles (500 km) off the Canary Islands on Tuesday. According to the maritime rescue service, Salvamento Marítimo, the 30-year-old was aboard the British-flagged catamaran Dalliance Chichester, located approximately 110 miles west of Dakhla, Western Sahara, when the incident occurred just before 4 PM local time.
The crew of the boat made an emergency call to the Spanish rescue service, which shares responsibility for that area with the Moroccan authorities. Since Morocco had no rescue vessels available, it requested that Salvamento Marítimo lead the search efforts. A Spanish air force search-and-rescue helicopter was dispatched from Gran Canaria, arriving at the scene at 20:05 on Thursday. Salvamento Marítimo also reached out to nearby vessels, one of which was able to provide immediate assistance while the helicopter was en route.
The woman lost a leg during the attack and suffered cardiorespiratory failure while on the helicopter, being pronounced dead at Doctor Negrín hospital in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. A spokesperson for the Canaries’ courts confirmed that the Las Palmas court had started an investigation into the case, “as is standard for any accidental death.” They noted that no witnesses had been called in for testimony. The Guardia Civil police stated they were also looking into the incident and directed inquiries to the courts.
As reported by the boat-tracking service VesselFinder, the Dalliance Chichester departed from Las Palmas port on September 14. In the meantime, Salvamento Marítimo teams rescued 122 individuals attempting to reach the Canary Islands via the treacherous Atlantic route from West Africa. So far this year, 26,758 people, including children, have made the sea journey to the Canary Islands, which is 12,304 more than in the previous year, putting significant pressure on the archipelago’s reception facilities.
The Spanish migration organization Caminando Fronteras estimated that over 5,000 individuals have died making the hazardous sea journey to Spain in the first five months of this year, predominantly along the Atlantic route.