At least 24 folks, probably migrants making an attempt to achieve Europe, drowned when their boat capsized off the coast of Senegal’s Saint Louis area, native authorities confirmed Thursday.
Gov. Alioune Badara Samb mentioned 24 our bodies had been discovered since Wednesday after the boat bought into problem in a very harmful a part of the northern coast.
The Saint Louis estuary, the place the Senegal River meets the Atlantic Ocean, is infamous for its robust currents and areas of thick mud.
Samb didn’t say how many individuals have been lacking from the vessel, which witnesses mentioned may have been carrying greater than 300 folks.
Several survivors managed to achieve shore and dispersed amongst locals on the banks, making it troublesome to say precisely how many individuals have been concerned, he mentioned.
Mamady Dianfo, a survivor from Casamance within the south, informed AFP there have been greater than 300 folks on board when the boat left Senegal every week in the past.
Another survivor, Alpha Balde, estimated there have been greater than 200 passengers.
Dianfo mentioned the vessel reached Morocco, additional north up the coast however the captain then mentioned he was misplaced and will not proceed the journey.
“We asked him to take us back to Senegal,” he mentioned.
Senegal’s coast is an more and more frequent departure level for Africans fleeing poverty and unemployment and heading to the Canary Islands, their port of entry into Europe.
European Union border company Frontex says Senegal and Morocco are the most typical international locations of origin for migrants arriving on the Spanish archipelago within the Atlantic.
Of the greater than 6,600 migrants who died or went lacking making an attempt to achieve Spain final yr, the overwhelming majority have been misplaced on the treacherous Atlantic route, in keeping with Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras.
Source: www.dailysabah.com