At least 15 migrants have died and dozens are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Mauritania, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and local sources said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of migrant tragedies off the coast of West Africa.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of 15 migrants and the disappearance of more than 195 people at sea after a boat capsized in Nouakchott,” the IOM posted on X.
A Mauritanian coastguard official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that at least 25 bodies had been recovered and 103 people had been rescued, while several dozen people remained missing following Monday’s disaster.
“Around 300 people boarded a boat in Gambia and spent seven days at sea before the boat capsized near Nouakchott on 22 July 2024,” the IOM said in a statement.
The UN migration agency said 120 people had been rescued by the Mauritanian coastguard, while efforts were ongoing to locate the missing.
“Of the survivors, 10 were sent to hospital for immediate medical care and four unaccompanied or lost children were identified,” the IOM said.
A Mauritanian coast guard source said the pirogue was carrying between 140 and 180 people, most of them from Senegal and Gambia.
The source said the boat had broken down in the middle of the sea and the captain had abandoned the ship.
The IOM statement said that since June, more than 76 boats carrying more than 6,000 surviving migrants have landed in Mauritania, with at least 190 migrants dead and missing.
Dangerous transit
Every year, thousands of Africans flee poverty and unemployment in search of a better future make the dangerous journey to Europe.
But this crossing is fraught with tragedy.
In early July, nearly 90 migrants heading to Europe died when their boat capsized off the coast of Mauritania.
In early May, 26 migrants who set sail from Guinea died when their boat sank off the coast of Senegal.
The Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands is particularly dangerous, as it is characterised by strong currents, and migrants travel in boats that are overcrowded, often unseaworthy and without adequate drinking water.
But its popularity has increased due to the increased vigilance of authorities in the Mediterranean.
The IOM said that from January 1 to July 15 alone, more than 19,700 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands irregularly using this route.
This is 160 per cent more than the same period in 2023, when 7,590 migrants were recorded.
The Canary Islands lie 100 kilometres (62 mi) off the coast of North Africa at their closest point.
More than 5,000 migrants died trying to reach Spain by sea in the first five months of this year, equivalent to 33 deaths a day, according to Caminado Fronteras, a Spanish charity.
This is the highest number of daily deaths since data collection began in 2007, and most of these deaths have occurred on the Atlantic route.
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