Shipwreck Off Senegal Kills Dozens as Canary Islands Declare Migrant Emergency

A pirogue-type flat-bottomed boat departed from Saint-Louis in northern Senegal on Sunday bound for Spain's Canary Islands and overturned off the Lompoul dunes in the Kebemer department, 180 km (112 miles) north of Dakar, according to state media cited by Al Jazeera. The Senegalese Press Agency (APS) reported at least 39 dead, with only one passenger rescued alive and several others still missing, the BBC reported. Initial reports had placed the toll at 21 before more bodies were recovered, raising the count first to 34 then to 39, Al Jazeera noted. Four bodies were recovered Monday morning in an advanced state of decomposition and buried after a collective funeral prayer organized by the fire service, the BBC said. Rescue teams are searching a 25 km (15-mile) stretch of coastline, complicated by difficult access and strong currents pushing bodies further south, according to the BBC. Authorities have identified 24 of the 39 victims and returned their bodies to families, while 11 await identification, the BBC reported. Saliou Diouf, founder of Senegalese migrant aid group Boza Fii, told AFP that all bodies recovered by Sunday evening were Senegalese, though nationalities of others on board remain unconfirmed, the BBC noted. The interior ministry confirmed the boat carried people seeking to migrate irregularly but did not specify how many were on board, Al Jazeera reported.

Senegal's human rights group Action for Human Rights and Friendship (ADHA) called for a parliamentary inquiry, denouncing a "lack of lasting results" to reduce migrant deaths at sea despite 300,000 euros ($336,000) announced for the Navy and training of more than 300 agents, Al Jazeera reported. ADHA stated, "It is no longer enough to deplore shipwrecks, announce measures and count interceptions." President Bassirou Diomaye Faye offered condolences and pledged to clamp down on traffickers, posting on X: "We will relentlessly continue the fight against those who organise these crossings and the work that gives our young people reasons to hope here," the BBC reported. The interior ministry said it would continue efforts to combat people-smuggling networks, including strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries, the BBC noted. Authorities said they had intercepted another boat on Friday carrying 142 migrants — including 23 women, two babies and two other children from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria — attempting to reach Spain, the BBC reported.

Spanish authorities on the Canary Island of El Hierro declared a state of emergency on Saturday after more than 3,300 people arrived on about 30 boats since the start of November, amounting to almost a third of the island's population, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported. Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands regional government, described the situation as "absolutely unsustainable," according to Reuters cited by the BBC. Walking Borders, a Spanish migrant rights group, recorded 635 deaths on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands between January and May 2026, the highest toll among routes it monitors, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported. The group estimates about 21 people died for every 100 who reached the Canary Islands during that period, the BBC said. The route has grown in prominence amid tighter controls and increased cooperation between European countries and North African states, which may have diverted some journeys away from the central Mediterranean, the BBC reported. Limited employment opportunities, family pressures and established migration networks drive people to leave Senegal, according to the International Organization for Migration cited by the BBC. Nearly one in four young people in Senegal was unemployed in the second quarter of 2026, according to the country's statistics agency, the BBC noted.