Canary Islands - A ferry with 175 passengers on board ran aground on approaching the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife, shipping company Fred Olsen said Wednesday.

The passengers and crew were evacuated unharmed after the accident off the port of Los Cristianos on southern Tenerife in the Canary Islands late Tuesday.

MS Bonanza Express suffered fairly important damage, but was not in danger of sinking, Fred Olsen general director Juan Ramsden said.

The reason for the accident appeared to be linked to a failure of the ferry's reverse system, according to Ramsden.

Canary Islands - A would-be immigrant who had come from Africa died Tuesday at a hospital on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, raising the death toll to three on a boat which had carried a total of 123 migrants, health officials said.

The boat arrived on the Canary Island of El Hierro on Monday.

Canary Islands - A boat carrying 229 African would-be immigrants landed on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife overnight, rescuers said Tuesday.

It was the largest number of Africans to arrive on a single vessel so far, officials told the national radio station RNE.

The migrants, who were all male, included 25 minors. They were in relatively good health, although six were treated for hypothermia.

A rescue plane spotted the 30-metre-long boat at about 100 kilometres off the Canary Islands, and a rescue vessel towed it to the port of Los Cristianos.