A small boat carrying migrants sank off northwestern Senegal killing 34 people in the latest tragedy along the dangerous Atlantic Ocean route from Africa to Europe, the authorities said Sunday.
The country’s interior minister would visit the region where the accident happened to meet families of the victims and express condolences on behalf of the state, it added. An initial statement from the Senegalese interior ministry said 21 bodies and only one survivor had been recovered following the sinking, but that those numbers were provisional as the search continued. The group included 23 women, two babies and two other children, and were from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria, according to police.
An “indeterminate number” of people were reported missing, S added. Spanish authorities on the Canary Island of El Hierro declared an emergency on Saturday after a surge in migrant boat arrivals.
