Spain: Nigerian stowaways found on ship’s rudder seek asylum

By RENATA BRITO
Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The three Nigerian stowaways found traveling on an oil tanker’s rudder after an 11-day ocean voyage from Lagos, Nigeria to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands are seeking asylum in Spain, a spokesperson for the Spanish government delegation in the Canaries said Wednesday. The three men were picked up Monday by Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service from the rudder of the Alithini II ship and transferred to two hospitals on the island of Gran Canaria with symptoms of dehydration and hypothermia. One of them remains hospitalized while the other two have been released.