Forty-seven African migrants are missing and probably died at sea while trying to reach Europe aboard a boat, finally recovered Monday off Mauritania with seven survivors, said an official of the Organization. International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The boat had left "in all likelihood" from the region of Laâyoune (Western Sahara) on August 3 for the Canary Islands (Spain), but suffered engine and drift damage for nearly two weeks before being spotted. Monday by the Mauritanian coast guard off Nouadhibou, said IOM official Nicolas Hochart.
Nearly 300 people missing since early 2021
Fifty-four people, including two children under the age of three and a teenager now all three missing, were on board at the start, he said, citing testimonies collected by IOM from the survivors.
They were West Africans, he added without giving further details.
“The trip, if all goes well, it will take a few days at most (…).
From the moment the engine failed, they found themselves without a reserve ”of water and food, he stressed.
This route passing through the Atlantic and the West coast of Africa to the Canaries, the gateway to Europe, is one of the privileged routes taken each year by thousands of African migrants aboard modest boats. .
It is a very dangerous journey.
Around 300 people at least have died or gone missing since early 2021 on the “Atlantic route”, said Nicolas Hochart.
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Migrants: At least 58 people die in shipwreck off Mauritania
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Disappearance
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