Seven people, including four women and three girls, have died after a boat carrying refugees and migrants capsized while approaching the port of El Hierro in Spain’s Canary Islands, emergency services said on Wednesday.

The small vessel, believed to be carrying more than 100 people, overturned just metres from the dock as rescuers were attempting to disembark minors, Al Jazeera reported.

Spain’s maritime rescue service said the sudden movement of passengers caused the boat to tip over and dump its occupants into the water.

Red Cross spokesman Alexis Ramos told broadcaster RTVE that there could be “more than 100 people” on board, though the exact number of those missing remains unclear.

A helicopter airlifted two more children — a girl and a boy — to hospital in critical condition a

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