Five bodies have been recovered from a boat carrying West African migrants off Spain’s Canary Islands, but an aid group says as many as 83 people may have d!ed on the journey.

Spain’s maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, rescued 44 men from the boat on Wednesday after finding it drifting about 120km south of Gran Canaria.

Five other bodies were on board but could not initially be removed because of bad weather. They were recovered after the boat was taken to the port of Arguineguin.

Three of the 44 survivors were in critical condition and were flown by helicopter to a hospital. The other 41 were assisted by the Red Cross.

The Red Cross said the survivors were all men, including some underage, and were from Mali or Senegal.

But Helena Maleno, spokesperson for Spanish migrant aid NGO Caminando Fronteras, said 83 migrants and refugees had d!ed, including three women and a baby girl.

According to Maleno, the boat had left The Gambia 27 days earlier.

Caminando Fronteras said its figures are based on information from migrants’ families and official rescue figures. The organisation’s death tolls are often higher than those reported by authorities.

Salvamento Maritimo, however, said the other reported victims had not been found or rescued and that the higher death toll could not be confirmed.

The incident has again raised concerns over the dangers facing migrants using the Atlantic route to reach the Canary Islands.

Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo said the continued loss of lives in the Atlantic should not be accepted as normal.

“It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap,” he said.

The Canary Islands are one of the main routes into Europe for people fleeing poverty, conflict and persecution.