A minimum of 69 individuals have died and plenty of extra are lacking after a ship capsized off the coast of Mauritania, coastguards within the north-west African nation have stated.
Seventeen individuals have been rescued and a search is continuous for different passengers who had been aboard the dugout canoe that was heading in direction of Spain’s Canary Islands.
In response to survivors, the boat left The Gambia six days earlier than Tuesday’s accident, carrying round 160 individuals on board, primarily Gambian and Senegalese nationals.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic Ocean has develop into an more and more widespread route for African migrants attempting to achieve Europe.
Almost 47,000 individuals reached the Canary Islands final yr and the Spanish non-government organisation Caminando Fronteras estimates greater than 9,000 migrants died attempting.
Coastguard sources instructed Spanish information company EFE that search efforts had been ongoing off the coast round 60km (37 miles) north of the capital, Nouakchott – and rescue groups had been making ready to dive and examine the sunken vessel.
The migrants noticed the lights of a coastal city late on Tuesday night time and “moved to 1 aspect, inflicting it to capsize”, a senior coastguard official instructed the AFP information company.
Caminando Fronteras spokesperson Helen Maleno urged the coastguard to maintain up the search, describing the accident to Spanish media as some of the important “tragedies of this summer time”.
Earlier this week, the Mauritanian safety forces were accused of systematically abusing migrants from other African countries.
The Human Rights Watch report alleged the violations had been exacerbated by a take care of the European Union and Spain, which goals to curb the damaging sea crossings to the Canary Islands.
