At least 70 dead as migrant boat capsizes off West Africa

Gambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday evening that at least 70 people have died after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of West Africa.

The ministry said there are fears that 30 more may have drowned when the vessel went down off Mauritania early Wednesday.

The boat is believed to have departed from Gambia carrying around 150 people, mostly Gambians and Senegalese. Sixteen survivors were rescued.

Mauritanian authorities recovered 70 bodies on Wednesday and Thursday, while witness accounts suggest the death toll could exceed 100.

The incident is among the deadliest in recent years along the perilous migration route to Europe, according to Reuters.

Last year, more than 46,000 migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands, a record figure, according to the European Union. Over 10,000 people died attempting the journey in 2024 alone, a 58 percent increase compared with 2023, according to the migrant rights group Caminando Fronteras.