The coast guard said rescue workers had recovered the bodies of 25 people. Walking Borders, which tracks migrants' deaths and provides assistance to relatives, posted on Twitter that 39 people had died, including four women and a baby.

The group’s founder Helena Maleno said the dinghy was carrying 60 migrants, who had waited for over 12 hours for assistance.

A Spanish helicopter sent to the area in response to a request for help from Moroccan authorities found a dead minor and saw no other survivors, a coast guard spokeswoman said.