Forty-three people, including three infants, died after their boat capsized off the coast of Tarfaya in southern Morocco, the Spanish organization Caminando Fronteras said.
A spokesperson for the organization told AFP that ten people had been rescued from the wreck.
The survivors had made a rescue appeal in the early hours of Sunday morning, and were able to maintain contacts for two hours.
It took hours [Moroccan] Caminando Fronteras, who tracks data from distressed boats, said.
The organization said that only two bodies have been recovered so far out of 43 bodies, and the toll of losses was based on the testimonies of survivors and families of the victims.
The migrants were on their way to the Spanish Canary Islands, 100 kilometers from Tarfaya.
The North African country is a major transit point on the routes taken by migrants hoping for a better life on European shores.
According to Caminando Fronteras, more than 4,000 migrants were killed or disappeared last year while trying to make their way to Spain, double the number in 2020.
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The bodies of the majority were not found.
According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, more than 373,000 migrants arrived in the country by sea in 2021.