Survivors said the boat, with women and children on board, had reportedly left Gambia on Nov. 27.
At least 58 people are dead after a boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized in the Atlantic Ocean off Mauritania, the UN migration agency said on Wednesday. It said 83 people swam to shore.
The boat carrying at least 150 people had been low on fuel while approaching Mauritania, the UN agency said in a statement. It said survivors were being helped by Mauritanian authorities in the northern city of Nouadhibou.
Survivors said the boat, with women and children on board, had left Gambia on Nov. 27.
An unknown number of injured were taken to the hospital in Nouadhibou.
“The Mauritanian authorities are very efficiently coordinating the response with the agencies currently present in Nouadhibou,” said Laura Lungarotti with the migration agency.
There is no statement from authorities in Gambia as of Wednesday from which many migrants set off in hopes of reaching Europe.
Despite Gambia’s small size, more than 35,000 Gambian migrants arrived in Europe between 2014 and 2018, according to the UN migration agency.
Source: TRT World.
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