A small boat carrying migrants and refugees sank off north-western Senegal. The Senegalese Press Agency says at least 34 people died, and earlier reports had put the number at 21. The interior ministry said one person had been rescued.
The boat was a flat-bottomed pirogue. It capsized on Saturday near the Loumpoul dunes in the Kebemer area, between Dakar and Saint-Louis. A local newspaper said most of the dead came from two districts in that region.
π The Backstory
Thousands of people have died in recent years trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands from West Africa. The migrant rights group Walking Borders counted 635 deaths in the first five months of this year alone.
On Saturday, authorities on El Hierro in the Canary Islands declared an emergency after a jump in arrivals. More than 3,300 people reached the island in about 30 boats since the start of November.
π― Why It Matters
People keep risking the sea because they see no safe way out at home. The route to the Canaries is now one of the deadliest migration paths in the world.
A small boat carrying migrants and refugees sank off north-western Senegal. The Senegalese Press Agency says at least 34 people died, and earlier reports had put the number at 21. The interior ministry said one person had been rescued.
The boat was a flat-bottomed pirogue. It capsized on Saturday near the Loumpoul dunes in the Kebemer area, between Dakar and Saint-Louis. A local newspaper said most of the dead came from two districts in that region.
Thousands of people have died in recent years trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands from West Africa. The migrant rights group Walking Borders counted 635 deaths in the first five months of this year alone.
On Saturday, authorities on El Hierro in the Canary Islands declared an emergency after a jump in arrivals. More than 3,300 people reached the island in about 30 boats since the start of November.
People keep risking the sea because they see no safe way out at home. The route to the Canaries is now one of the deadliest migration paths in the world.