Migrant boat sinking in Senegal leaves 35 dead
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Ivoire Actu
The sinking of a migrant boat off north-western Senegal has left at least 35 dead, after an initial toll of 21 bodies recovered and one survivor. Searches continue and Senegalese authorities also intercepted another boat carrying 142 people to Spain, according to emergency services and APS.
At least 35 people died after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the north-western coast of Senegal, according to emergency services. The toll was initially 21 bodies recovered and one survivor in a statement from Senegal's Interior Ministry, before reaching 34 and then 35 deaths on Sunday evening, according to the Senegalese Press Agency (APS) and the Action for Human Rights and Friendship (ADHA) association.
Search teams were continuing operations in the Atlantic to find missing migrants, while emergency services warned that the toll could still rise. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said that the authorities and state resources had been mobilised for the search, care of survivors and support for families.
The sinking is part of departures by West African migrants towards the Canary Islands, in Spain. On Friday, Senegalese authorities had intercepted another boat carrying 142 people bound for Spain, including 23 women, two babies and two other children from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria. The death toll from the Lompoul sinking had reached 21 on 7 November, before Bassirou Diomaye Faye mobilised after the Lompoul sinking on 8 November.
