The dramatic image shows the rescue of a baby girl born at sea on a migrant ship off Spain’s Canary Islands

The Spanish Coast Guard rescued a baby born on board a rubber boat carrying migrants out to sea Canary IslandsWednesday, authorities said.

The infant was recovered safely with their mother on Monday, the Coast Guard Service said in a statement Message on social media.

They were the last to make the crossing that saw thousands drown as migrants tried to reach the Atlantic archipelago from Africa.

The Coast Guard said: “Christmas in the Canary Islands ended with the rescue of a baby born during a sea crossing.” “Our crews in the Canary Islands have started the year in an intense manner.”

A Coast Guard boat rescued “a mother who gave birth on board the rubber boat she was traveling with a large group of people.” Reuters reported that the newborn was a girl.

She added that the two were transferred by helicopter to Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote.

The coast guard vessel rescued a total of 60 people, including 14 women and four children, Domingo Trujillo, captain of the agency’s rescue ship, told Spanish news agency EFE.

He added: “The child was crying, which indicated to us that she was alive and had no problems. We asked the woman for permission to take off her clothes and clean her.” “The umbilical cord had already been cut by one of her fellow passengers. The only thing we did was examine the baby, give her to her mother and wrap her during the flight.”

Trujillo told Reuters that rescue crews were exhausted but motivated by their mission.

“Almost every night we leave at dawn and return late,” he told Reuters. “This case is very positive, because it was with a newborn baby, but in all the services we provide, even if we are tired, we know that we are helping people in distress.”

Official data this month showed that a record number of 46,843 illegal immigrants arrived in the Canary Islands in 2024 via the Atlantic Ocean route.

Last June, a cruise ship She saved 68 people Drifted on a fishing boat off the Canary Islands. A cruise ship passenger from Vancouver, Canada, told CBS News that it took a few hours to rescue the migrants on the ship and that about five people on the boat died.