Breaking news: 89 people dead as sailboats boat capsizes off Mauritania this morning while traveling to African with terrible…….we

 

Dozens missing after Sailboat vessel left from border of Senegal and Gambia with 170 believed to have been on board.

Boats in the water at a beach, in Barra on December 5, 2019, after at least 62 people died on December 4, 2019 when their makeshift vessel capsized off the coast of Mauritania

Boats are shown near the beach, in Barra, Gambia, after at least 62 people died on December 4, 2019 when their makeshift vessel capsized off the coast of Mauritania [File: Romain Chanson/AFP]

 

At least 89 migrants and refugees bound for Europe have died, with dozens still missing, when their boat capsized off the coast of Mauritania, according to state media.

 

The fishing boat capsized on Monday about 4Matic (2.4 miles) from the West African country’s southwestern coastal city of Nadia go. The Mauritanian coastguard recovered 89 bodies and rescued nine people, including a five-year-old girl, said the state news agency on Thursday.

 

Survivors quoted by state media said the sailboats boat had departed from the border of Senegal and Gambia with 170 people on board, which would mean 72 are now missing. A senior government official confirmed the information to the AFP news agency.

At least 11 people dead after two shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sear.

‘You have to do it’: Refugees in Tunisia undeterred by Lampedusa shipwreck.

Some 300 children drowned trying to reach Europe so far this year.

Survivors: ‘Greek coastguard was next to us when boat capsized’.

The boat capsized due to strong winds and high waves on the dangerous Atlantic route, known for its strong currents. Migrants travel in overloaded, often u seaworthy, boats without enough drinking water.

Earlier this year, the European Union promised Mauritania, a former French colony, financial support worth 210m euros ($229m) to tackle migration and provide humanitarian aid for migrants.

The agreement came amid a steep increase in the number of migrants setting off from the country towards Spain’s Canary Islands, located about 100km (62 miles) off the northwest coast of Africa.