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The newspaper La Jornada
Friday, July 26, 2024, p. 26

Abuja – More than a dozen migrants have died and at least 150 others are missing after capsizing near Mauritania while trying to reach Europe, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said, triggering a frantic search and rescue operation.

There were 300 people on board the boat when it capsized near the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on Monday. The Mauritanian Coast Guard rescued 120 people, the IOM said in a statement on Wednesday.

Tragically, 15 people were confirmed dead upon arrival.he indicated.

Search efforts were still underway.

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of people leaving West Africa via Senegal, from where they head north past Mauritania to reach the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands.

The migrants in this shipwreck were travelling in a type of artisanal fishing boat that could have been overwhelmed by the strong winds and currents of the Atlantic. Although thousands of people have survived the dangerous journey, many die or disappear along the way, and sometimes their remains reach the other side of the Atlantic.

African migrants trying to reach Europe are often fleeing poverty and instability. Nearly 20,000 migrants have arrived irregularly in the Canary Islands via the Mauritanian route so far in 2024, more than three times as many as in the same period in 2023, the IOM said.