Spain, Sep 1 (Alliance News): More than 140 people are feared dead after a migrant boat heading for Spain’s Canary Islands sank off the coast of Mauritania, Spanish media reported on Friday.
Mauritanian authorities told the Spanish news agency EFE that at least 70 bodies had been recovered, while 17 people were rescued alive.
Spanish NGO Walking Borders said around 160 people were believed to be on board when the vessel went down. “This is one of the biggest tragedies of the summer,” Helena Maleno, the group’s director, told broadcaster Cadena Ser.
The shipwreck happened about 60 kilometers north of Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott on Thursday. The ill-fated vessel had set sail from The Gambia.
The Atlantic crossing from northwest Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands is one of the most perilous migration routes in the world. Official data shows nearly 47,000 people reached the Canary Islands in 2024, but Walking Borders estimates more than 9,750 died attempting the journey.
