At least 50 sub-Saharan immigrants have drowned in the last 24 hours when the two boats with which they were heading for the Canary Islands, one near Dakhla in the Sahara and the other in Nouadhibou in Mauritania, were wrecked

Al menos 50 muertos al naufragar 2 pateras a Canarias en Sáhara y Mauritania

photo_camera At least 50 dead when 2 boats were shipwrecked in the Canary Islands in the Sahara and Mauritania

At least 50 sub-Saharan immigrants have drowned in the last 24 hours when the two boats with which they were heading for the Canary Islands, one near Dakhla in the Sahara and the other in Nouadhibou in Mauritania, were wrecked.

In the case of the first shipwreck, the bodies have been located by Moroccan fishing boats and by members of the Royal Navy, according to official sources, which added that another ten migrants were rescued alive.

The sources added that the Moroccan authorities continue to mobilize to rescue possible survivors or find bodies of migrants who were allegedly on board this boat that sank about 20 kilometers southeast of Dakhla.

For her part, human rights defender and spokeswoman for the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras, Helena Maleno, underlines on her Twitter account that the number of drowned people has risen to 27, and adds that there are an unknown number of people who have disappeared from this patera.

Last Monday, Moroccan authorities found seven bodies and rescued 40 sub-Saharan migrants in their attempt to reach the Canary Islands when the boat they were travelling on sank in the southern town of Tarfaya.

In the second sinking, another 40 sub-Saharan immigrants have perished after capsizing the boat with which they intended to reach the Canary Islands, in the high seas, but not far from the coast of Nouadhibou (Mauritania), a security source has informed Efe. It has been confirmed that only one survivor has been rescued.

This boat suffered a breakdown and was left adrift for several days without being located, explained the same source which added that later the occupants decided to jump into the sea but all but the only survivor was found by chance by the Mauritanian authorities off the coast of Nouadhibou.

The survivor (from the Gambia), who is currently in a hospital in the same city, says that they left Morocco on a date he cannot remember. Nor has he been able to specify the number of days they spent at sea.

The special envoy of the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) for the situation in the central Mediterranean, Vincent Cochetel, underlines on his Twitter account that both his organisation and the International Organisation for Migration, together with the Mauritanian authorities and other partners "are trying to intensify efforts to prevent such tragedies", and deplores that "the traffickers continue to lie to their clients".​​​​​​​

In December 2019, 60 sub-Saharan migrants from The Gambia drowned in an attempt to reach Spain after a cayuco boat sank off the coast of Nouadhibou, while 180 others were rescued by the Mauritanian authorities.

This is the third boat to sink this week in an attempt to reach the Canary Islands. Last Monday, Moroccan authorities found seven bodies and rescued 40 sub-Saharan migrants in the waters off the southern town of Tarfaya.

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