19 arrested as 'at least 50' people died or disappeared during 'horror' small boat trip

Police have said for the first time they believe "at least" 50 migrants were tortured and thrown overboard after being accused of witchcraft on a horror boat crossing to Europe. The first allegations of mass high seas executions on board the overcrowded vessel emerged at the start of the month, after 248 survivors were rescued off the African coast and taken to Gran Canaria.

Detectives began investigating after witnesses brought ashore claimed to have seen fellow migrants beaten up and shot after people smugglers in charge of the boat accused them of being witches when they suffered engine problems and started running out of food. Subsequent reports said 17 men - 16 Senegalese nationals and one Gambian - had been arrested and remanded in custody by a Spanish judge probing the allegations. On September 17, police said 19 suspects had been detained as they released the first images of the arrests and detailed for the first time in an official statement the results of their inquiries into the nightmare Atlantic crossing so far.

The migrants were brought ashore at Arguineguin on Gran Canaria's southern coast on August 25, a day after the overcrowded vessel known as a cayuco was rescued off the African city of Dakhla, 265 miles from the Canaries, by Spanish coastguards after Moroccan officials said they were unable to help.

A spokesman for Spain's National Police in Gran Canaria said today, as the force released footage of the suspects being hauled handcuffed onto a bus from refugee reception centres they had initially been taken to: "National Police officers have arrested 19 people on suspicion of murders and torture on board a cayuco rescued on August 24.

"The vessel was adrift in waters off Gran Canaria and 248 migrants were in it, although one subsequently died in hospital. Several migrants who were travelling in it spoke of murders, wounding and torture committed during the crossing. The disappearance of at least 50 people thrown into the sea by the alleged people smugglers is also being investigated. All of those held, who were travelling in the same boat, have been remanded in custody after appearing in court."

The police force added: "The investigation points to the vessel having left Senegal initially with around 300 people on board, with the estimated disappearance of at least 50 migrants during the 11 days the journey apparently lasted.

"The boat, made of wood and around 65ft long, was located adrift by Spanish Coastguard vessel Guardamar Urania, which took the 248 occupants to Argenenguin. According to statements taken from witnesses, several of the migrants arrested not only piloted the cayuco, but also assaulted dozens of people, hitting them and mistreating them in several ways.

"In some cases they threw migrants while they were still alive overboard into the ocean as well as refusing to help those who accidentally fell into the water. The witnesses point to the disappearance of around 30 people thrown overboard, although investigators calculate more than 50 people died or disappeared on the basis that the cayuco left Senegal with around 300 people on board.

"The causes of these deaths, according to the witness testimony gathered, is that they are allegedly related to superstitions that identified as 'witches' certain people on the boat when incidents occurred during the crossing, such as engine failures, lack of food or bad weather. Likewise homicides have been documented for the simple reason that some people protested or showed their inconformity with the travel conditions. The 19 suspects identified are being investigated on suspicion of people trafficking, homicide, wounding and torture."

The jail remand decision was taken by a duty judge at a court in San Bartolome de Tirajana in Gran Canaria who questioned the suspects as well as the four survivors described locally as 'protected witnesses'.

It is not known if the men held answered questions or retained their right to silence.