Video questions official version of fatal migrant boat collision

A video published on the website of radio station Cadena SER appears to contradict the official version of a fatal collision between a Civil Guard patrol boat and a vessel carrying would-be immigrants to Spain last September in waters off the Canary island of Lanzarote. One young Moroccan was killed in the accident and six others never found after the craft sank. Civil guards on board the patrol boat rescued 17 people from the water after the collision.

The images released by Cadena SER were captured by a camera linked to Spain's border control surveillance system and originally sent to an investigating judge last December by the Civil Guard. In the video, the immigrants' vessel is seen attempting to evade the patrol boat, which was sent out to intercept them. The smaller craft then swerved in the water and reduced its speed, at which point the patrol boat smashed into it.

After the accident, the Civil Guard gave different versions of the event. First, it said it was an accidental collision. Then it was reported that the patrol boat had suffered a mechanical failure, causing its helmsman to lose control. It was also claimed that the captain of the immigrants' craft had left the helm at the moment of impact to hide himself among the passengers, which the video proves was not the case.

The official version offered by the central government delegation in the Canaries also stated that the patrol boat had its search lights on constantly as it approached; something that several survivors told the judge was not the case.