At least twenty-one people died in the shipwreck of a migrant pirogue off the coast of Kébémer in northwestern Senegal, according to provisional figures released by the interior ministry, as search operations for potential survivors continue.
The state news agency APS reported that rescue teams found the bodies on a beach in the Louga region. Elements of the gendarmerie and fire department were mobilized for the search and recovery operations, proceeding to retrieve the bodies before transporting them for identification purposes.
National newspaper Le Soleil reported that the shipwreck took place off the coast of Loumpoul between Dakar and Saint-Louis. Most of the victims reportedly originated from the communes of Léona and Thiéppe within the Kébémer department. The victims also originate from several villages, notably Thiéppe, Bandji, Saré Dao and Potou.
Pressafrik reported that four bodies were initially recovered at Tébène 2, in the commune of Tchépe, after an overcrowded boat originating from Saint-Louis encountered severe logistical difficulties. Survivors fled the scene following the capsizing, according to local radio reports cited by Pressafrik.
The bodies were found on the coastline in the Tébène area, near Potou Saradao, and were recovered by firefighters who transported them to the Amadou Sakhir-Mbaye regional hospital in Louga.
By Saturday evening, the interior ministry confirmed a provisional death toll of twenty-one bodies recovered alongside a single survivor. The minister of the interior is scheduled to visit the affected families on Monday to express state solidarity, Boursorama reported.
Concurrently, the Senegalese gendarmerie intercepted 142 irregular migrants off the coast of Dakar on Friday. That operation took place during security deployments for the Dakar Youth Olympic Games, marking the first time the Olympic event has taken place on the African continent.
The intercepted group included forty Senegalese nationals, ninety-three Gambians, one citizen of Guinea-Bissau, two Guineans, and two Nigerians. Two infants and two minor children were among the passengers traveling aboard the vessel toward Spain.
Late in October, the NGO Action for human rights and friendship (ADHA) questioned Senegal regarding the persistence of hazardous departures toward Europe by migrants, which included nearly 1,000 West Africans arriving in the Spanish Canary Islands on October 22 and 23.
Recent tightening of maritime controls by Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco has pushed pirogue departures for the Canaries further south toward the coasts of The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea, lengthening the duration of these perilous crossings.
