At least 70 migrants have lost their lives after a boat capsized near Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Gambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the tragedy on Friday evening.
The vessel, which had set out from Sami Koto, a village in Gambia’s North Bank Region, carried around 150 people, mostly from The Gambia and Senegal.
According to a Mauritanian official, the disaster occurred when passengers rushed to one side of the boat after spotting the lights of a town roughly 80 kilometers north of Nouakchott, causing it to overturn.
Sixteen people have so far been rescued, including five Gambian nationals.
The Gambian Foreign Ministry said, “Tragically, based on the number of survivors and the vessel’s estimated passenger count, it is believed that over 100 people may have perished in the incident.”
The Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania share a linked stretch of the Atlantic coast, making the region a key departure point for migrants heading to Europe. However, the sea route to Spain’s Canary Islands is considered one of the world’s deadliest.
This latest incident adds to a string of recent tragedies. In July 2024, 89 migrants died when their overcrowded vessel sank off Mauritania’s coast.
Later in December, nearly 70 more lives were lost on the same route. Just this past January, about 50 migrants were reported drowned during a 13-day journey toward the Canary Islands.
