Migrant boat sinks off Spain

Spanish sea rescue services were searching for 14 would-be immigrants missing and believed drowned yesterday after their boat sank off the Canary Islands killing at least three, Spanish officials said.

Another 17 immigrants were rescued from the rickety boat which capsized around 26 miles off the southeastern coast of Fuerteventura.

"There are scant hopes of finding any bodies given the depth of the waters and the currents, which mean it's an almost impossible task," emergency services spokesman Fran Torres told state radio.

Separately, another 147 North Africans were caught trying to get across the Gibraltar Strait illegally, sea rescue services said.

Spain would be part of a fresh effort to resolve the issue of illegal immigration by trying to improve standards of living in poor countries, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said.