At least 25 migrants have died and dozens are missing after their boat capsized off Mauritania, the country’s news agency AMI said Wednesday, in the latest in a string of migrant tragedies off the coast of West Africa.
The Mauritanian coastguard “saved the lives of 103 illegal immigrants and recovered 25 bodies, following the sinking of their boat off the coast of the capital Nouakchott”, AMI reported, citing a coastguard commander.
Earlier, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said at least 15 people had died in the wreck.
“Approximately 300 people boarded a pirogue in The Gambia and spent seven days at sea before the boat capsized near Nouakchott on July 22, 2024,” the IOM said.
“Among the survivors, 10 people were urgently referred to hospitals for medical care, and four unaccompanied and separated children were identified,” the IOM said.
The source from the Mauritanian coastguard said the vessel was carrying 140 to 180 people, mostly Senegalese and Gambian.
The boat had broken up in the middle of the sea and the captain abandoned the vessel, the source said.
Since June, more than 76 boats with more than 6,000 surviving migrants have disembarked in Mauritania, with at least 190 dead and missing migrants, the IOM statement said.