At the very least 26 individuals have died after a ship carrying migrants capsized off Senegal’s coast.
Authorities say greater than 100 individuals have been on board the wood fishing vessel when it sank simply 4km (2.5 miles) into its journey.
Distraught family and associates have gathered alongside the seaside, anxiously ready for information of their family members.
Thus far, 4 individuals have been rescued and search efforts are nonetheless beneath means.
The boat had departed from Mbour, about 80km south of the capital metropolis Dakar, certain for Spain’s Canary Islands, that are off the coast of West Africa.
Lately, the variety of migrants leaving West Africa via Senegal has surged.
Principally younger males – fleeing battle, poverty, and unemployment – are trying the harmful Atlantic path to the Spanish Islands, with almost 30,000 arrivals recorded this 12 months.
Spain is likely one of the European nations that takes in essentially the most migrants, and the Mediterranean Sea route stays the most well-liked.
However a rising variety of West African migrants are selecting to journey through the Atlantic Ocean to the Canary Islands as a substitute.
Regardless of the risks, it entails only one step, quite than needing to cross each the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean.
The surge in migrants trying the crossing prompted Spain’s prime minister to go to three West African nations final month – Senegal, Mauritania and The Gambia – for disaster talks with leaders.
Earlier this 12 months, a $227m deal was made between the EU and Mauritania to bolster border safety. Spain was a key companion within the talks in Mauritania that had led to it.