Large migrant boat lands in Canaries, quarter escape

MADRID, Jan 12 (Reuters) A boat carrying some 190 illegal immigrants landed on the Spanish island of Hierro last night, emergency services said, and around a quarter of them, thought to be Pakistani, escaped.

Emergency services found 136 adults and children, mostly Africans, after the open-topped boat landed on small, rocky Hierro which sits at the western end of the Canary Islands.

Three passengers were taken to hospital, two of them suffering from dehydration, a spokeswoman said.

Authorities said they thought 40 to 50 immigrants escaped.

They were identified as Pakistanis by some Spanish media.

The landing is the biggest so far this year and continues a trend of immigrants using ever larger boats to reach the islands in search of a better life.

Last year a record 31,000 illegal immigrants landed in the Canaries -- six times more than the previous year -- though authorities estimate another 6,000 drowned in the attempt as they travelled from more distant countries like Senegal.

REUTERS SP BST1552