At least 30 bodies were discovered on a boat drifting off the coast of Senegal’s capital, according to the military on Monday, amid a rising number of migrants departing from West Africa.
The navy was alerted to the vessel’s presence on Sunday evening and dispatched a patrol boat to the location, approximately 70 kilometers (38 nautical miles) from Dakar, as stated by Ibrahima Sow, a military spokesperson.
“So far, we have counted 30 bodies,” Sow reported.
The advanced decomposition of the bodies is complicating the identification process, and the military noted that investigations will yield further details about the death toll and the boat’s origin.
Increasing Irregular Migration
Earlier this month, another boat carrying 89 people capsized off the Senegalese coast, resulting in at least 37 fatalities, according to local authorities.
Many migrants leaving West Africa through Senegal are escaping conflict, poverty, and unemployment. Most aim for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago that serves as a gateway to mainland Europe.
Since the start of the year, over 22,300 individuals have arrived in the Canary Islands, marking a 126% increase compared to the same period last year, as reported by Spain’s Interior Ministry.
Dangerous Journeys
Last month, the Senegalese military arrested 453 migrants and individuals linked to smuggling networks during a 12-day coastal patrol. More than half of those apprehended were Senegalese, according to the military.
In July, a boat carrying 300 migrants, primarily from The Gambia and Senegal, capsized off Mauritania, leading to more than a dozen deaths and at least 150 people missing.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the most perilous in the world.
High Fatalities
While accurate death tolls are difficult to determine due to limited information on departures from West Africa, the Spanish migrant rights organization Walking Borders estimates that thousands have perished this year alone.
Many migrant vessels that encounter trouble or become lost often disappear in the Atlantic, sometimes drifting for months before being discovered in the Caribbean and Latin America with only human remains.