A boat carrying migrants toward Spain's Canary Islands capsized off Senegal's coast on Sunday, killing at least 34 people, according to Senegalese authorities. The vessel broke apart near the Loumpoul dunes in the Kébémer department, roughly midway between Dakar and Saint-Louis, in the early hours of the morning.
Officials said 21 bodies had been recovered along with one survivor as of Sunday evening, with the toll later revised upward to at least 34 as search efforts continued. An unknown number of passengers remain missing, and the final count is expected to rise. Senegal's government has not released the nationalities of those on board.
One of the world's deadliest migration routes
The sinking came just days after Senegalese authorities intercepted a separate boat carrying 142 migrants also bound for Spain, underscoring the volume of departures along this stretch of West African coast. Spain's Canary Island of El Hierro has declared an emergency over a surge in arrivals in recent weeks, as boats launched from Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco attempt the perilous Atlantic crossing rather than the shorter, heavily patrolled Mediterranean routes.
The Atlantic route to the Canaries has become one of the deadliest in the world. The aid group Walking Borders recorded 635 deaths on the route in just the first five months of this year alone, a toll driven by overcrowded, poorly built vessels attempting open-ocean crossings that can take a week or longer.
Government response
Senegalese coast guard and navy vessels led the search-and-rescue operation, recovering bodies through Sunday as weather allowed. Dakar has in recent years stepped up patrols aimed at intercepting departures, but has struggled to stem the flow given economic pressures driving young Senegalese and migrants transiting from elsewhere in West Africa toward Europe.
Spanish and European Union officials have periodically pledged additional funding to Senegal and Mauritania for border enforcement and economic development aimed at reducing departures, though arrivals on the Canary Islands route have continued at elevated levels this year. No immediate statement was issued Sunday by the European Union's border agency, Frontex, on the latest sinking.
