Senegal Shipwreck Death Toll Rises To 42

The death toll from one of the deadliest migration tragedies in Senegal’s recent history has risen to 42 after officials confirmed three additional deaths on Wednesday.

The migrants’ boat sank off Senegal’s northwestern coast on Friday, triggering days of search and rescue operations as emergency responders recovered bodies washed ashore.

In Senegal, where many young people struggle to find meaningful employment, reaching Europe is often seen as a major opportunity for a better future.

Thousands of migrants from West Africa have died in recent years while attempting the dangerous journey to Spain’s Canary Islands.

“The latest dead bodies drifted towards the Saint-Louis region (in the northwest), on the beach in the town of Gandiol”, the region’s fire commander, Amadou Fall, told AFP.

Emergency services spent the weekend recovering bodies along beaches in the coastal region.

By Wednesday afternoon, the number of victims had increased to “43 victims, including 42 dead bodies and one survivor”, Fall said.

“Search and rescue operations continue,” he added.

Fall also disclosed that a medical-psychological emergency team had been deployed to support emergency personnel and the victims’ families.

Earlier in the week, AFP journalists saw the damaged remains of the migrants’ wooden pirogue, which had broken into two, along a deserted stretch of coastline in the village of Thieppe.

The victims were from the surrounding area, particularly Thieppe and the nearby village of Potou.

In a separate development on Wednesday, Mauritania’s coast guard announced that it had rescued more than 130 Senegalese migrants, including five women. Their boat had run out of fuel and supplies while travelling from neighbouring Senegal towards Europe.

Meanwhile, Senegal’s navy told AFP that it had intercepted more than 1,500 people attempting to migrate by sea or along the country’s coastline in the past two weeks alone.