DAKAR (Reuters) – At least 15 people drowned when a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Senegal’s capital Dakar on Monday, Senegalese President Macky Sall said.
The incident happened early in the day off one of the country’s most popular beaches, in the Ouakam region.
“I express my deep sorrow following the death of fifteen Senegalese in the sinking of a canoe off Dakar. My saddened condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims”, declared Macky Sall on his Twitter account.
Babacar Diallo, a fisherman from Ouakam who went to the beach at dawn said he saw at least 12 dead bodies on the shore and people trying to help in the rescue efforts. Two people were alive, he added.
“They continue to recover bodies, but the water is murky: we told them where they could find them, and there are probably others,” said Babacar Diallo.
Firefighters and divers alerted by local fishermen and the national navy were still looking for bodies in the area on Monday afternoon.
The number of migrant boats trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands via the Atlantic is on the rise, despite it being one of the deadliest routes.
The Senegalese navy said on July 13 it intercepted a vessel carrying around 70 migrants, the third crossing reported this month.
Attempts to cross from West Africa increase during the hottest summer months.
(Ngouda Dione report, French version Corentin Chapron, edited by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters