The seas off the Canary Islands is being searched by Spanish police for a boat that vanished more than a week ago carrying at least 200 African migrants.

Other ships in the region have been instructed to keep an eye out for the missing ship, and a search plane is currently probing the waters south of the Spanish islands.

A seaside village in southern Senegal called Kafountine is 1,700 kilometers (or around 1,000 miles) from the Canaries, where the boat left from.

Many children are on board, according to aid workers.

Also reported missing are two smaller boats from the same region that were carrying numerous people.