Senegal’s emergency services say the death toll from a migrant boat capsizing off the country has risen to 39 after more bodies were found on Monday.
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The death toll from a boat carrying migrants that capsized off Senegal has risen to 39 after more bodies were discovered on Monday, the country’s emergency services said.
The boat overturned on Sunday offshore from the town of Kébémer, north of Dakar, after leaving Saint-Louis in northern Senegal and heading toward the Spanish coast.
Senegal’s Ministry of Interior said Sunday that at least 21 people had died and that rescuers were looking for possible survivors.
The ministry did not say how many people were on board, but several passengers were still believed to be missing, and only one passenger was rescued alive.
Authorities said the boat was following a well-travelled migration route used by thousands of young Senegalese seeking better economic conditions, travelling on uncovered wooden canoes for about 800 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to reach Europe.
In a statement, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye offered condolences and said he would clamp down on networks behind the dangerous crossings.
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