More than 60 migrants are believed to have died after a boat carrying them from Senegal capsized in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Verde, the authorities said this week.
The boat capsized at some point after leaving Fass Boye, a small fishing village about 90 miles north of Dakar, the Senegalese capital, on July 10, according to the International Organization for Migration, which cited information provided by the authorities.
A Spanish fisherman found the boat floating about 150 miles north of Cape Verde’s Sal Island, the country’s national police said on Monday. The islands of Cape Verde lie several hundred miles west of Senegal.
Thirty-eight people survived the accident, including four children, Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency, said in a brief email on Thursday. She said seven people had been confirmed dead and 56 others were still missing.
“Sadly, people missing at sea are presumed dead,” Ms. Msehli said, adding that all but one of the 101 people on board were from Senegal.
No other details about the tragedy, including the boat’s original destination, could be confirmed on Thursday morning. The Senegalese authorities and the Cape Verde national police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Smugglers have been piling migrants into poorly constructed or overcrowded boats to make the crossing to Europe from their home countries in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. Many of the migrants take immense risks in order to escape war and poverty at home.
Thousands leave ports along the West African coast aiming for Spain’s Canary Islands as a way to reach European territory, often in rickety wooden crafts known as pirogues — even though the route is one of the world’s deadliest.
At least 778 migrants died during the first half of the year along the West African route to Spain, according to the Spanish migrant advocacy group Walking Borders.
European countries have increasingly sought to block migrants before they ever reach their shores, cutting deals with African countries to crack down on smugglers and bolstering support for immigration enforcement.
At least 16 migrants were killed in a deadly boat accident in late July off the coast of Dakar while being pursued by Spanish and Senegalese patrol boats.
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
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