Over 60 Senegalese migrants dead or missing after a month at sea

Fishing boats are often used by migrants in Senegal to cross the sea. Pic/AP

More than 60 migrants are feared dead after a Spanish fishing vessel off the Atlantic island of Cape Verde rescued a boat that started with more than 100 aboard, authorities said on Thursday.

Seven dead bodies were found on the boat, while an estimated 56 people are missing at sea and presumed dead, the International Organisation for Migration said. According to Senegal's foreign affairs ministry, 38 survivors were rescued earlier in the week near Cape Verde, about 620 km off the coast of West Africa from the large fishing boat (called a pirogue) which had left Senegal on July 10.

Families in Fass Boye, a seaside town 145 km north of the capital Dakar, had reached out to Walking Borders on July 20 after 10 days without hearing from loved ones on the boat. Cape Verde's National Police said a Spanish fishing vessel came across the fishing boat on Monday, north of the archipelago's Sal island. It took the survivors on board as it was unable to tow the fishing boat.

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