Spain rescues 67 immigrants from sea, 2 dead

Spanish coastguard boats rescued 67 immigrants, including two corpses, from the sea near the Canary Islands today, an emergency services spokesman said.

The immigrants were in a bad state and three have been taken to hospital with hypothermia, a Red Cross spokesman told state radio.

Thousands of illegal immigrants attempt the journey from Africa to Spain's Canary Islands every year in open-topped wooden boats. Many die trying to reach Europe in search of work.

Most choose to set sail in the summer when conditions are less treacherous for the crossing to the Spanish islands, which lie hundreds of miles from the African coast.