At least six dead after boat carrying migrants sinks off Senegal

DAKAR (Reuters) – At least six people died after a boat capsized off Senegal over the weekend, a spokesperson for the West African country’s armed forces said on Monday.

The boat – a narrow, wooden fishing vessel known as a pirogue – was carrying around 100 migrants from the town of Mbour and it overturned after only 4 km (2.5 miles) of navigation, state broadcaster Radio Television Senegalaise (RTS) said late on Sunday.

Four people were rescued but many are still missing, RTS said.

The armed forces spokesperson told Reuters the navy had sent a plane and two boats to search for the dead and survivors and that the searches were continuing on Monday.

The journey by boat from the coast of West Africa towards Spain’s Canary Islands is a popular migration route.

The route has seen a 154% surge this year, with 21,620 people arriving in the Canary Islands in the first seven months, according to data from the European Union border agency Frontex.

Spain, which has police operating in the region, says that as many as 150,000 more migrants from Africa may be set to make the dangerous crossing in the coming months.

France’s navy, which also has operations in Senegal, intercepted two pirogues carrying a total of 276 migrants off Senegal’s coasts on Friday, the Senegalese Navy announced in a post on X.

(Reporting by Ngouda Dione and Portia Crowe; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Gareth Jones)