At least nine people have died and 48 are missing after vessel carrying 87 people sinks off island of El Hierro

Patrol boats and helicopters were searching on Sunday for about 48 people missing after their migrant boat sank near the Spanish island of El Hierro in what could become the deadliest such incident in 30 years of crossings from Africa to the Canary Islands.

Nine people, one of them a child, have been confirmed as dead after the vessel sank in the early hours of Saturday morning, emergency and rescue services said.