Otherupdated 1h ago2 min read
MapAt Least 34 Dead After Migrant Boat Sinks Off Northwestern Senegal Near Kebemer
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At least 34 people died when a migrant boat sank off Kebemer, northwestern Senegal. Interior Ministry says one survivor was rescued.
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Senegal boat sinks
A migrant boat sank off the coast of northwestern Senegal near Kebemer, about 180 kilometres north of Dakar, and Senegalese authorities said at least 34 people died with one person rescued as search operations continued. The Senegalese Interior Ministry initially reported 21 bodies recovered and one person rescued, while the Senegalese Press Agency (APS) later put the toll at at least 34 and emergency services told AFP the death toll rose to at least 35.
France 24 said the Senegalese Interior Ministry initially reported 21 bodies and only one survivor had been recovered, and APS later reported the toll now stood at 34 at least. The boat capsized on Saturday off the Loumpoul dunes in the Kebemer department, between Dakar and the northern city of Saint-Louis, as Senegalese authorities continued searching for an indeterminate number of people missing.
Condolences and aid groups
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye expressed his condolences to the victims' families and urged Senegalese nationals not risk their lives on the dangerous sea crossings, while he pledged on X to intensify efforts to dismantle the networks organising the journeys. Saliou Diouf, founder of Senegalese migrant aid group Boza Fii, told AFP that the bodies recovered were Senegalese and said the sinking occurred on Friday rather than Saturday.
Action for Human Rights and Friendship (ADHA) confirmed the death toll reported by APS and said only one survivor had been found so far. The Senegalese interior ministry said it would continue efforts to combat people-smuggling networks, including by strengthening cooperation with neighbouring countries, as the interior minister was set to visit the area to meet victims' families.
El Hierro emergency
Authorities on El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands declared an emergency after a sharp increase in migrant arrivals, with more than 3,300 people reaching the island in about 30 boats since the beginning of November. The BBC reported that Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands regional government, described the situation as "absolutely unsustainable," as Senegalese authorities said they had intercepted another boat on Friday carrying 142 migrants.
Senegalese authorities said the intercepted group included 23 women, two babies and two other children, and police said the group comprised nationals of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria. The sources also tied the Senegal incident to broader Atlantic-route pressures, with Walking Borders recording 635 deaths on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands between January and May 2026 and the route described as hazardous as search and rescue continued off Kebemer.