DAKAR, Senegal — An estimated 150 migrants are thought to have died after the wooden boat they were traveling in was shipwrecked off the coast of Senegal on Friday, the latest in a deadly series of accidents for those trying a dangerous sea route around northwest Africa to reach Europe that had become less popular in recent years. The boat capsized and many of the passengers drowned, according to Alarm Phone, a hotline for migrants stranded at sea, and Senegalese firefighters who saw the aftermath on the beach. It had been less than a week since the last such disaster, in which at least 140 people trying to get to Europe drowned when their boat caught fire. There has been a resurgence in clandestine emigration by sea, the Senegalese government said in a statement last week. It said it was carrying out surveillance operations by air and by sea, and had arrested 28 people suspected of trafficking migrants.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 03, 2020 00:33 UTC