At least 49 people have died and around 100 remain missing after a migrant boat sank off Mauritania’s coast, officials said. Seventeen survivors were rescued, and search efforts are ongoing, BBC reported.
The vessel had left The Gambia six days earlier with about 160 people, mostly Gambians and Senegalese, heading for Spain’s Canary Islands. Survivors said it capsized after passengers rushed to one side on spotting coastal lights near Nouakchott.
According to BBC, the Canary Islands route has become one of the deadliest paths to Europe. Rights group Caminando Fronteras warned the toll could be higher, calling the sinking one of the summer’s worst tragedies.
