According to the UN Migration Organization (IOM), at least 140 refugees drowned off the coast of Senegal. A boat with around 200 people on board left the Senegalese coastal town of Mbour on Saturday for the Canary Islands, IOM announced today.
A few hours later, the boat caught fire and capsized. According to media reports, 59 people were saved. This was the deadliest shipping accident so far recorded this year, said IOM. The organization is deeply saddened by this tragedy.
Again and again people from Africa try to reach the Canary Islands, a group of islands off the coast of West Africa that belongs to Spain. The number of people who have traveled from West Africa to the Canary Islands in the past few weeks has risen sharply in recent weeks, according to the IOM. At least 414 people have died on this route this year.
