Migrant boat sinks off Senegal, 21 killed: authorities

DAKAR: A small boat carrying migrants sank off northwestern Senegal killing at least 21 people in the latest tragedy along the dangerous Atlantic Ocean route from Africa to Europe, authorities said.

The Senegalese interior ministry said in a statement that only one person had been rescued in addition to the 21 bodies recovered, which added to the thousands who have died in recent years trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands from West Africa.

The ministry said the death toll was "provisional" as of late Saturday and that the search was still going on and the families of victims were being helped.

Media reports said the pirogue-type flat-bottom boat capsized on Saturday off the Loumpoul dunes in Kebemer department, between Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis.

However Saliou Diouf, founder of Senegal's main migrant aid association Boza Fii, told AFP that "the sinking occurred on Friday".

The nationalities of all the victims had not been confirmed "as the search is ongoing", he said. "But the bodies recovered yesterday (Saturday) are Senegalese," he added.

Thousands of people from West Africa try each year to reach Europe on the perilous Atlantic route.

Senegalese authorities also said they had intercepted 142 migrants on Friday who were on a similar small boat aiming to reach Spain.

The group included 23 women, two babies and two other children, and were from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria, according to police.

The Senegalese government on Saturday stressed "its determination to combat people smuggling networks, notably through strengthened cooperation with neighbouring countries," the interior ministry said in a statement.

Spanish authorities on the Canary Island of El Hierro declared an emergency on Saturday after a surge in migrant boat arrivals.

Since the start of November, El Hierro authorities said more than 3,300 people had arrived aboard around 30 boats.

Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco have stepped up maritime patrols around departure points for small boats, forcing them to head further south towards the coasts of Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea, which prolongs the duration of the already hazardous crossing.