Wazirabad [Pakistan], October 13 (ANI): Four Pakistani nationals died in an attempt while illegally trying to travel to Spain on Sunday, ARY News reported.

The four people who hid in the cargo of the ship died allegedly of suffocation in Mauritania, as per ARY News.

One of the deceased was identified as Abu Huraira, a resident of Wazirabad's Jinnah Colony. His family members told ARY News that Huraira left for Spain a month ago, and was sent off by an agent named Usman.

Earlier, a boat carrying migrants capsized off Spain's Canary Islands overnight, killing nine people and leaving 48 missing, Pakistan's National Maritime Rescue Service said on Saturday. 84 people were on board and 27 were rescued after rescuers responded to a distress call received shortly after midnight from off El Hierro, one of the islands in the archipelago, ARY News quoted a statement.

This latest incident follows the death of 39 migrants in early September when their boat sank off Senegal while attempting to go to the Canaries, from where migrants try to reach mainland Europe. Thousands of migrants have died in recent years setting off into the Atlantic to reach Europe onboard overcrowded and often dilapidated boats.

In late August, Spain's Prime Minister visited Mauritania and The Gambia to sign cooperation agreements to crack down on smugglers while expanding pathways for legal immigration, ARY News reported.

As of August 15, 22,304 migrants had reached the Canaries since the start of the year, up from 9,864 in the same period the previous year. The Atlantic route is particularly deadly, with many of the crowded, poorly equipped boats unable to cope with the strong ocean currents. Some boats depart African beaches as far as 1,000 km (620 miles) from the Canaries.

As per the report, the International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, estimated that 4,857 people died on this route since 2014. Many NGOs say that the number is a massive undercount, with Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish NGO that aids migrants, saying 18,680 have died trying to reach Europe. (ANI)