89 migrants had drowned and dozens are still missing after a pirogue bound for Europe capsized off the southwestern coast of Mauritania on Monday, APA can report on Friday.
Mauritanian coastguards say nine of the migrants have been rescued, one of them a young girl.
Illegal migration through the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea has accounted for over 10, 000 deaths in the last five years, according to some estimates.
According to the Mauritanian authorities, the ill-fated fishing boat had originated from The Gambia from where close to 200 people had set sail last week in a desperate bid to flee poverty and reach the shores of Europe, where the migrants hoped they’ll get a better life.
Spain is usually the first target for migrants who use Mauritania and Morocco as transit routes.
The migrants are mostly from countries south of the Sahara, including The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau where growing economic hardships had forced citizens to flee.
According to official figures from Spain some 40,000 migrants mainly from these countries had reached the country this way last year.
WN/as/APA