New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- A boat carrying West African migrants went adrift in the Atlantic Ocean and left at least five people dead and dozens more feared dead before the vessel was spotted and assisted, Spanish rescuers said Thursday. Forty-four people were brought to safety in the Canary Islands.

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said Thursday that one of its planes had spotted a "precarious" boat drifting about 120 kilometers (70 miles) south of the island of Gran Canaria on Wednesday afternoon.

Three survivors were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital on the island. The remaining 41 migrants were brought to safety by boat and disembarked early Thursday in the port of Arguineguin, where they were being cared for by the Red Cross.

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