At least 21 dead as small boat sinks off Senegal

Senegalese Interior Ministry says one person rescued as search operation continues after migrant vessel capsized.

A small boat carrying migrants and refugees has sunk off northwestern Senegal, killing at least 21 people.

The Senegalese Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that one person had been rescued in addition to the 21 bodies recovered.

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The ministry said the death toll was “provisional” as of late Saturday, adding that the search was still ongoing and the families of the victims were being helped.

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

Le Soleil newspaper said that most of the victims were from the Leona and Thieppe districts in the same department.

Thousands ⁠of people have ⁠died in recent years attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from West Africa, including ‌635 in the first five months of this year, according to ‌migrant rights ‌group Walking Borders

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.