The cayuco arrived at the island of El Hierro on November 3rd with 207 migrants on board. Among them was a person who had been stabbed and had to undergo emergency surgery at the hospital. Further investigation revealed that four people had been thrown overboard with their hands tied. This sparked a Guardia Civil investigation that uncovered a terrifying story that began with hallucinations, spirits, and superstitions, and ended with at least four murders, one injured person, and seven arrests.
The cayuco had set off from Gambia and made a stop in the Senegalese island of Bassoul to pick up most of its occupants. The boat was moving slowly due to the large number of people on board, but instead of attributing it to being overloaded, supernatural explanations arose. Survivors told authorities that there was a spiritual guide on board, a type of sorcerer called a marabou, who warned the captains that there was an evil spirit among them that would darken the journey. They soon found someone to blame.
After three days at sea, a 23-year-old Senegalese merchant began to speak incoherently and deliriously. These episodes are common among survivors of these journeys, which last several days at sea with lack of food and sleep. They often experience hallucinations and lose their sense of reality. In this case, the situation escalated, with the delirious man being accused of being possessed by spirits and beaten by the cayuco’s crew, along with his brother and a neighbor who defended him.
The tension continued to rise, resulting in further violence towards another passenger who was also beaten and tied up. Two days before reaching land, they decided to throw them overboard, resulting in the death of the Senegalese merchant who was thrown into the sea. The other three victims were thrown into the water alive. The circumstances of the stabbing of the surviving man who made it to El Hierro after a week at sea are still unclear.
The challenge of this investigation was not only reconstructing the events but also identifying the murdered individuals, whose bodies will never be found. With little documentation and information, authorities had to cross-reference data to locate relatives living in Spain who helped identify the victims. The fourth murdered person, the man who confronted the captains for unknown reasons, has not yet been identified. Seven people from the Tenerife camp where the migrants were taken after disembarkation have been arrested, including three captains responsible for security and four skippers responsible for navigation.
