Senegal Raises Migrant Boat Death Toll to 39

Authorities in Senegal have increased the death toll from a migrant boat disaster off the country’s northwest coast to 39, making it one of the deadliest migration incidents in the country in recent years.

The wooden vessel, known as a pirogue, sank on Friday afternoon off Senegal. By Monday, the wreckage had been found split in two and severely damaged on a deserted stretch of coastline near the village of Thieppe.

Most of the victims were from the surrounding region, particularly Thieppe and the nearby village of Potou, according to information gathered by AFP.

The death toll stood at 35 on Sunday evening before Louga Regional Governor Ndeye Nguenar Mbodj confirmed four additional deaths on Monday.

Mbodj said the latest bodies recovered were badly decomposed, prompting authorities to seek permission to bury them at the site.

Senegal’s Interior Minister, Mouhamadou Makhtar Cisse, visited the location on Monday and paid his respects at the scene of the disaster.

He acknowledged the economic pressures and personal ambitions driving young people to seek opportunities abroad, but warned that risking their lives at sea should not be part of that pursuit.

“We can understand the young peoples’ wish to leave, their daily difficulties, the desire to fulfil their potential and help their families”, he said.

“Leaving is an option but dying at sea should not be an option”.

Cisse described human smugglers who organise the journeys as modern-day slave traders and called for sustained efforts to identify and prosecute them.

He also urged authorities to increase public awareness campaigns to discourage young people from relying on misleading promises of better opportunities abroad. He proposed that Spain consider issuing temporary work permits to migrants as a safer route to employment.

In a statement released on Monday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it had documented at least 454 deaths and disappearances along the Atlantic migration route as of October 26, 2026.

The agency warned that the figure was likely an underestimate because many boats disappear at sea without survivors, recovered bodies or evidence of what happened.

It called for countries along the migration route to strengthen cooperation and sustain joint efforts to address the dangers facing migrants.

Senegalese authorities also reported intercepting 142 migrants on Friday who were travelling in another small boat and attempting to reach Spain.

Separately, authorities on the Spanish Canary Island of El Hierro declared an emergency on Saturday following a sharp increase in migrant arrivals by sea.

Since the beginning of November, more than 3,300 people had reached the island aboard approximately 30 boats, according to local authorities.

Thousands of people attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from West Africa have died or gone missing on the Atlantic route in recent years.