At least 21 dead as small boat sinks off Senegal

What the report says

At least 21 people died after a small migrant boat sank off northwestern Senegal, according to the Senegalese Interior Ministry. The ministry said one person was rescued and that the death toll was still provisional while search efforts continued. It also said families of the victims were being assisted. The incident was reported on Sunday, following a capsize on Saturday.

According to the article, the pirogue-style flat-bottomed vessel went down near the Loumpoul dunes in the Kebemer department, between Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis. Local reporting cited by Al Jazeera said many of the victims were from the Leona and Thieppe areas in the same department. The ministry did not immediately give more details about the passengers or the cause of the sinking.

The disaster is part of a wider pattern of dangerous migration routes across the Atlantic from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands. Al Jazeera, citing migrant rights group Walking Borders, noted that thousands have died in recent years on this route, including 635 in the first five months of the year. The report also said Spanish authorities on El Hierro declared an emergency on Saturday after a rise in boat arrivals, with more than 3,300 people reaching the island in about 30 boats since the start of November.