Aug 29, 12:35 PM

Mauritanian Coast Guard Says Up to 69 Migrants Dead in Atlantic Capsize

Mauritania’s coast guard said a wooden canoe carrying about 160 migrants capsized early Tuesday off Lemhaijratt, roughly 60–80 kilometres north of the capital, Nouakchott. The vessel had left The Gambia about a week earlier and was believed to be heading for Spain’s Canary Islands, a perilous Atlantic crossing that has grown busier in recent years. Initial reports put the death toll at 49, but officials later told Agence France-Presse the number of bodies recovered had risen to 69, with dozens more people still unaccounted for. About 17 survivors were pulled from the water, and search operations for roughly 100 missing passengers continued on Friday. Coast-guard chief Mohamed Abdallah said the craft overturned when passengers crowded to one side after spotting coastal lights. Most of those on board were Gambian and Senegalese nationals. The disaster is one of the worst along the West African migration corridor this summer, underlining the persistent risks faced by people attempting the Atlantic route to Europe.