Afrigather At the least two dozen individuals died off Senegal’s northern coast and plenty of had been injured when their boat capsized, mentioned officers, underscoring the hazard of the route utilized by an rising variety of migrants looking for to achieve Spain from West Africa.
The boat was certain for Europe and capsized close to the city of Saint-Louis the place our bodies washed ashore Wednesday afternoon and the hearth division was alerted, mentioned Alioune Badara Sambe, the native governor.
The injured are being handled in a hospital in Saint-Louis and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident has been opened, he mentioned.
The variety of migrants leaving from Senegal on rickety wood boats surged final 12 months, and almost 1,000 individuals died whereas making an attempt to achieve Spain by sea within the first six months of 2023, in line with the Spanish migration advocacy group, Strolling Borders.
Components comparable to youth unemployment, political unrest and the influence of local weather change push migrants to threat their lives on overcrowded boats.
Senegal has been thrown into turmoil as elections meant for February had been controversially delayed by the president, sparking lethal protests. Elections have been proposed for June but it surely’s unclear when or whether or not the president, whose time period formally ends in April, will step down.
