At least 21 people died when a migrant boat sank off Senegal, in the latest tragedy on the dangerous Atlantic route from West Africa to Europe. Only one person was rescued, alongside the 21 bodies recovered.
The Senegalese interior ministry said 21 bodies had been recovered and the death toll was provisional, with the search still going on. The small pirogue-type flat-bottom boat capsized off the Loumpoul dunes in Kebemer department, between Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis.
Media reports said the boat capsized on Saturday, but Saliou Diouf, founder of Senegal’s main migrant aid association Boza Fii, said the sinking occurred on Friday. The bodies recovered on Saturday were Senegalese, he said, though the nationalities of all the victims had not been confirmed.
Thousands of people from West Africa try each year to reach Europe on the Atlantic route, aiming for Spain’s Canary Islands. The crossing is long and exposed, and small wooden boats often carry far more people than they can hold.
A second boat stopped at sea
Senegalese authorities also said they had intercepted 142 migrants on Friday on a similar small boat aiming to reach Spain. The group included 23 women, two babies and two other children, from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria, according to police.
The Senegalese government said on Saturday it was determined to combat people smuggling networks, notably through stronger cooperation with neighbouring countries, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Spanish authorities on the Canary Island of El Hierro declared an emergency on Saturday after a surge in migrant boat arrivals. The island is one of the first points of landfall for boats leaving West Africa.
The wider toll after a migrant boat sank off Senegal
Greek coastguards said on Sunday that rescuers had found the body of a man and pulled 28 other people to safety from a migrant boat in distress off the island of Crete. The survivors, all reportedly Sudanese, were picked up by another boat sailing nearby, then moved to a police vessel and taken to the port of Heraklion.
The sea was rough, with winds of 40 to 50 kilometres an hour making conditions difficult, the coastguard said. On Wednesday, 59 people were reported missing after their boat capsized off Crete, according to a 23-year-old Bangladeshi man who survived. No bodies have yet been found.
Dawn reported the Senegal sinking and the Crete rescue together, a sign of how the same week has brought losses on two of Europe’s sea routes at once.
Why the story matters for Pakistan
Pakistanis have died on the same routes. In 2023, a boat carrying around 286 people from Libya capsized off Greece, and 155 Pakistanis were among those killed. The Supreme Court has since cleared the way for the Federal Investigation Agency to open a fresh inquiry into officials allegedly linked to the smuggling network behind that sailing.
The court ruling keeps the 2023 case open while the dismissed officers stay reinstated. The FIA had dismissed 40 officers over the tragedy. The court’s order lets the agency start a new inquiry if the evidence on record supports it.
The smuggling networks are still active. The FIA arrested suspected traffickers in Multan in a recent crackdown, and Europe is pressing for migrant return hubs with Pakistan in focus as part of its effort to send back people who arrive without papers.
For families in Pakistan, the Senegal deaths carry a familiar warning. Young men still pay smugglers for a place on an unsafe boat, and the sea still takes them. A United States court has blocked a plan to deport Afghans, which shows how courts on both sides of the Atlantic are now shaping migration policy case by case.
Frequently asked questions
How many people died off Senegal?
At least 21 people died when the boat sank. The interior ministry said the toll was provisional and the search was still going on. Only one person was rescued.
Where did the boat sink?
The pirogue capsized off the Loumpoul dunes in Kebemer department, between Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis, on the Atlantic route towards Spain’s Canary Islands.
Who were the victims?
The bodies recovered on Saturday were Senegalese, according to migrant aid association Boza Fii. The nationalities of all the victims had not been confirmed.
Were other boats involved?
Senegalese authorities intercepted 142 migrants on Friday on a similar boat heading for Spain. The group included 23 women, two babies and two other children.
Have Pakistanis died on these routes?
Yes. In 2023, a boat carrying around 286 people from Libya capsized off Greece, and 155 Pakistanis were among those killed. The Supreme Court has allowed a fresh FIA inquiry into officials allegedly linked to that smuggling network.
