At least 140 refugees drown off Senegal coast

The International Organization for Migration says at least 140 people died when a boat carrying more than 200 migrants sank.

The international organization announced on Thursday that the boat in question caught fire and capsized on Saturday, a few hours after leaving the coastal city of Mbour, Senegal, 100 kilometers south of the country's capital, Dakar.

According to the report, the Senegalese and Spanish navies, along with fishermen, managed to rescue 60 of them, and at least 140 drowned.

These migrants were traveling from West Africa in the hope of reaching the Canary Islands, one of the most important migration routes to Europe.

Reuters reported that migration to Europe via this route has more than quadrupled this year, reaching 11,000 people.

In the past month, 14 boats have carried 663 African migrants from Senegal to the Canary Islands, and a quarter of them have been in accidents.

Source: Radio Farda