Around 170 migrants dead or missing off Mauritania coast

Shafaq News/ Approximately 170 migrants are reported dead or missing after their boat sank off the coast of Mauritania while attempting to reach Europe, according to the Mauritanian News Agency.

The agency reported that 89 migrants lost their lives this week and dozens more are missing following the capsizing of their traditional fishing boat. The tragedy occurred on July 1, near the city of Ndiago, about four kilometers from the coast.

Mauritanian coastguards retrieved the bodies of the 89 victims and rescued nine survivors, including a five-year-old girl. The survivors revealed that the boat had departed from the border region between Senegal and Gambia with 170 passengers on board, leaving approximately 72 people unaccounted for.

A senior local official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the details to Agence France-Presse (AFP), stressing the severity of the disaster and the urgent need for measures to protect migrants.