China News Service, October 30. According to foreign media reports, on the 29th local time, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued a statement saying that a refugee ship sank off the coast of Senegal recently, causing at least 140 deaths. This is also the beginning of 2020. The most serious shipwreck.
Data map: The moment the refugee ship capsized.
According to reports, the IOM said that about 200 refugees boarded the ship involved and set off from Senegal on the 24th local time. Only a few hours later, a fire broke out on the ship.
According to the Senegalese government, the fire spread from the area where fuel was stored on the ship.
According to reports, the refugee ship eventually capsized off the northwest coast of Senegal.
The Senegalese government’s previous statistics showed that the incident caused at least 10 deaths, but IOM said on the 29th that the death toll had increased to more than 140.
According to previous reports, on the 29th local time, a source from the Mauritanian security department said that another ship full of refugees broke down and lost power after leaving Senegal. About 50 refugees on board were unfortunately killed.
The Spanish office of the United Nations Refugee Agency previously stated that the new crown epidemic has led to the closure of past smuggling channels, so the number of illegal immigrants trying to smuggle from the west coast of Africa to the Canary Islands has increased.