DAKAR: At least 21 people have died, and only one survivor has been pulled from the waters after a vessel carrying irregular migrants capsized off the northern coast of Senegal, sources said, citing the country’s Interior Ministry.
According to an official statement issued by the ministry on social media platform X, emergency maritime authorities had recovered 21 bodies and safely rescued one survivor as of Saturday evening, sources confirmed. The maritime disaster occurred off the coastal town of Kebemer, situated approximately 180 kilometres north of Senegal’s capital, Dakar.
MIGRANT BOAT SINKS OFF SENEGAL
Senegal’s APS news agency reported that 34 people have died and one was rescued after a pirogue carrying migrants sank off Kébémer, up from the interior ministry’s earlier toll of at least 21 reported by AP. Footage shared on X by a local user shows what the poster says is the capsized pirogue on the beach between Lompoul and Saré Dao.
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Search and rescue operations were continuing off the coast as emergency teams scoured the waters for any potential additional survivors, authorities said. The Senegalese Interior Ministry confirmed that the ill-fated vessel was ferrying individuals attempting to migrate irregularly, though the exact number of passengers aboard when the vessel departed remains unconfirmed.
According to data compiled by the Spanish migrant rights organisation Walking Borders (Caminando Fronteras), at least 635 migrants died or disappeared while attempting the dangerous sea crossing in the first five months of this year alone.
In July, a tourist speedboat carrying 36 people, including 32 Indian tourists, capsized off the coast of Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island. (ANI)
