(CNN) At least 140 migrants have drowned off Senegal in the deadliest shipwreck recorded this year, the United Nations migration agency said in a statement Thursday. The vessel was carrying about 200 people, according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) statement. It added that, "according to media sources, the Senegalese and Spanish navies, and fishermen who were nearby rescued 59 people and retrieved the remains of 20 others." The number of migrant boat departures from West Africa to the Canary Islands has more than quadrupled this year to 11,000, according to IOM estimates. "We call for unity between governments, partners and the international community to dismantle trafficking and smuggling networks that take advantage of desperate youth," IOM Senegal Chief of Mission Bakary Doumbia said in the statement.

Source: CNN October 29, 2020 17:02 UTC