More than 140 dead, missing on refugee boat stranded off Mauritania

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and The Associated Press, reported that at least 143 refugees and migrants are dead or missing after a boat attempting to reach Europe was found off Mauritania. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the vessel had departed Bafuloto in The Gambia and was rescued on July 18 after spending 25 days at sea. It arrived at the port of Nouadhibou with 38 survivors and bodies on board.

UNHCR spokesperson Matt Saltmarsh told reporters in Geneva that two surviving children had lost all of their relatives during the journey and were receiving hospital care. Mauritania’s coastguard gave a figure of 122 missing and said the boat had run out of fuel after leaving The Gambia with 160 people aboard. The UNHCR said the dead were from sub-Saharan African countries, but Al Jazeera’s report did not include further details on the causes of death.

The agency said the disaster occurred despite three separate rescue operations off Mauritania between July 14 and 18, which brought 387 people from other stranded boats to safety. One additional death was reported from another vessel that reached Mauritania on July 14.

The incident highlights the extreme risk of the Atlantic route toward Spain’s Canary Islands, which UNHCR described as among the deadliest migration corridors because of long distances and overcrowded, unsafe boats. Al Jazeera reported that Mauritania remains a key departure point, while EU-backed enforcement has reduced arrivals but contributed to longer and more dangerous journeys from farther south.