September 23, 2024

At least 30 decomposing bodies were found in a boat drifting around 70 km (38 nautical miles) off the coast of Senegal’s capital Dakar, the military said on Monday.

The navy was informed of the boat’s presence on Sunday evening and a patrol boat was immediately deployed to the area, the military said in a statement.

“So far thirty bodies have been counted,” it said, adding that investigations would provide more precise information on the death toll and the boat’s origin.

The corpses’ advanced state of decomposition made the identification process difficult, it said.

The Atlantic migration route from the coast of West Africa to the Canary Islands, typically used by African migrants trying to reach Spain, is one of the world’s deadliest.

An unprecedented nearly 5,000 migrants died at sea in the first five months of 2024 trying to reach the Spanish archipelago, migration rights group Walking Borders.

REUTERS