Migrant boat sinks off Senegal, at least 35 dead
The provisional toll for a capsized migrant boat off northwestern Senegal has climbed to at least 35, with one survivor recovered so far.
A small boat carrying migrants sank off northwestern Senegal on Saturday, according to media reports. The pirogue-type flat-bottom boat capsized off the Loumpoul dunes in Kebemer department, between Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis.
Emergency services said on Sunday night that at least 35 people had died, with one survivor. The Senegalese interior ministry first reported 21 bodies and one survivor, and the Senegalese Press Agency later put the toll at 34. An interior ministry source said the toll would unfortunately rise, and an indeterminate number of people were reported missing.
The sinking is the latest on the dangerous Atlantic route from west Africa to Spain's Canary Islands, where thousands of people have died in recent years. The figures remain provisional as the search continues.
Why it mattersFamilies of the missing and the survivor now face an uncertain count, with an unknown number of people still unaccounted for.