Lompoul sinking: five bodies found, death toll rises to 44
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Dakaractu and Seneweb
Five new bodies were found on Wednesday 11 November on the Grande Côte, bringing the provisional death toll from the sinking of the Lompoul canoe to 44, according to Dakaractu. Four bodies were found at Saré Dao, in Thièppe commune, and one at Gandiol. Eleven bodies remain unidentified in morgues in Louga.
Four bodies were found at Saré Dao, where the vessel had run aground, and a fifth at Gandiol, near the mouth of the Senegal River. The state of decomposition of the four bodies found at Saré Dao led to their burial there. Eleven bodies of migrants are being kept at the morgue of Amadou Sakhir Mbaye Regional Hospital in Louga because they have not been identified.
Families are being received at the Saré Dao camp to provide photographs of missing people, before being directed to the Kébémer gendarmerie and then, if necessary, to Louga, according to Commander Abdou Fall, coordinator of the Orsec plan. An emergency medical and psychological unit has also been set up at the Lompoul command post to support families and personnel mobilised.
A report issued by firefighters at 14:00 on Wednesday put the number of bodies found at 42, with one survivor. Oumar Sow, described as a survivor, estimates that the canoe was carrying nearly 200 people and that around 50 may have survived before leaving the scene after the sinking. This estimate is based on his testimony, while searches continue along the coastline.
