Migrant boat sinks off Senegal, killing at least 34 people, authorities say
A boat carrying migrants along the hazardous Atlantic Ocean route from West Africa to Europe sank off the coast of Senegal, killed at least 34 people, authorities said Sunday. Only one survivor has so far been found, and "an indeterminate number" are still missing.
Media reports said the pirogue-type flat-bottom boat capsized on Saturday off the Loumpoul dunes in Kebemer department, between Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis.
The nationalities of all the victims had not been confirmed "as the search is ongoing", he said.
"But the bodies recovered yesterday (Saturday) are Senegalese," he added.
Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye wrote on social media Sunday that "all state authorities and resources have been mobilised to locate those who have gone missing, provide care for the survivors and support families".
He also pledged to crack down on people organising the risky voyages.
“No one should set out with the sea as their only horizon. We will relentlessly continue the fight against those who organise these crossings and the work that gives our young people reasons to hope here,” he said.
Thousands of people from West Africa try each year to reach Europe on the perilous Atlantic route.
Senegalese authorities also said they had intercepted 142 migrants on Friday who were on a similar small boat aiming to reach Spain.
The group included 23 women, two babies and two other children, and were from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria, according to police.
Senegal's interior ministry stressed "its determination to combat people smuggling networks, notably through strengthened cooperation with neighbouring countries" in a statement Sunday.
The country's interior minister would visit the region where the accident happened to meet families of the victims and express condolences on behalf of the state, it added.
Spanish authorities on the Canary Island of El Hierro declared an emergency on Saturday after a surge in migrant boat arrivals.
Since the start of November, El Hierro authorities said more than 3,300 people had arrived aboard around 30 boats.
Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco have stepped up maritime patrols around departure points for small boats, forcing them to head further south towards the coasts of Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea, which prolongs the duration of the already hazardous crossing.
