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At least 70 killed, 30 feared dead after migrant boat capsizes off West Africa
Thousands of would-be migrants have died in recent years seeking to make the sea trip from Africa to Spain and other European countries
- PUBLISHED: Sat 30 Aug 2025, 11:58 AM
At least 70 people were killed when a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of West Africa, Gambia's foreign affairs ministry said late on Friday, in one of the deadliest accidents in recent years along a popular migration route to Europe.
Another 30 people are feared dead after the vessel, believed to have departed from Gambia and carrying mostly Gambian and Senegalese nationals, sank off the coast of Mauritania early on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement.
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It was carrying an estimated 150 passengers, 16 of whom had been rescued. Mauritanian authorities recovered 70 bodies on Wednesday and Thursday, and witness accounts suggest over 100 may have died, the statement said.
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The Atlantic migration route from the coast of West Africa to the Canary Islands, typically used by African migrants trying to reach Spain, is one of the world's deadliest.
More than 46,000 irregular migrants reached the Canary Islands last year, a record, according to the European Union. More than 10,000 died attempting the journey, a 58% increase over 2023, according to the rights group Caminando Fronteras.
Gambia's foreign affairs ministry implored its nationals to "refrain from embarking on such perilous journeys, which continue to claim the lives of many".
Thousands of would-be migrants have died in recent years seeking to make the sea trip from Africa to Spain and other European countries.
Drownings are frequent during the perilous crossing between Africa and Europe, with strong ocean currents and ramshackle vessels making the long crossing dangerous.
At least 10,457 migrants died, for example, while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras.
The number amounts to an average of 30 deaths per day, up from around 18 in 2023.
Mauritania is a key staging post for undocumented migrants from across the African continent who take the dangerous sea route from west Africa to Europe.
(With inputs from AFP)