A boat with at least 30 decomposing bodies on board has been found drifting off the coast of Senegal – on a migrant route from West Africa to the Canary Islands
A drifting boat with at least 30 dead bodies on board has been found on a migrant route off the coast of Senegal.
A patrol boat was sent to locate the vessel after the Senegalese navy was alerted on Sunday night and it was found around 70 kilometres from Dakar, according to military spokesperson Ibrahima Sow.
“So far, 30 bodies have been counted,” stated Mr Sow. It comes as there has been a surge in the the number of West African migrants taking to the sea.
Due to the advanced decomposition of the bodies, identification is proving extremely challenging, the military noted, promising that ongoing investigations will shed light on the final death toll and the origins of the ill-fated vessel.
This incident follows closely on the heels of another maritime tragedy earlier this month when a boat with 89 people aboard capsized off Senegal’s coast, resulting in at least 37 fatalities as confirmed by local authorities.
Many migrants from West Africa, including those departing from Senegal, are escaping conflict, poverty, and unemployment. Their destination is often the Canary Islands which serves as a gateway to mainland Europe.
Statistics from Spain’s Interior Ministry indicate that since the start of the year, over 22,300 individuals have reached the Canary Islands, marking a 126% increase compared to the same timeframe last year. In a sweeping crackdown along the coastline, the Senegalese army has detained 453 individuals believed to be migrants and “members of smuggling networks” over a 12-day operation. The army revealed that more than half of those arrested hold Senegalese citizenship.
Meanwhile, tragedy struck in July when a migrant vessel, packed with around 300 passengers primarily from Gambia and Senegal, overturned near Mauritania, resulting in at least a dozen fatalities and about 150 individuals missing.
Tagged as one of the world’s most perilous migration paths, the Atlantic journey from West Africa towards the Canary Islands continues to claim lives. Due to scant knowledge regarding departures, an exact death count remains elusive, but Spanish advocacy group Walking Borders suggests the toll this year reaches into the thousands.
Lost or distressed migrant boats often disappear at sea, occasionally discovered months later adrift in the Caribbean or Latin America, their decks bearing only human remains.
