Scores of migrants swam through rough Atlantic Ocean waters to safety from
a capsized boat while 58 others drowned
The migrants who are receiving care Thursday in Mauritania after one of the
deadliest disasters this year among people making the perilous journey to
Europe.
The boat that left Gambia a week ago had been carrying at least 150 people,
including women and children.
It was headed toward the Canary Islands when it tried to approach the
Mauritanian coast to get fuel and food, Laura Lungarotti, chief of mission in
the West African nation with the U.N. migration agency, told The Associated
Press.
“Many drowned. The ones who survived swam up to the Mauritanian coast close
to the city of Nouadhibou,” she said. “The Mauritanian authorities are very
efficiently coordinating the response with the agencies currently present” in
the northern city.
At least 83 people swam to shore, the agency said. An unknown number of
injured were taken to the hospital in Nouadhibou. It was not immediately clear
whether anyone remained missing. Survivors said the boat had left Gambia on
Nov. 27.
There was no immediate statement from authorities in Gambia, where tens of
thousands of people have set off in hopes of reaching Europe in recent years.
Despite the country’s small size, more than 35,000 Gambians arrived in
Europe between 2014 and 2018, according to the U.N. migration agency.