Death toll rises to 39 after migrant boat capsizes off Senegal

The death toll from a migrant boat capsizing off Senegal has risen to 39, after more bodies were found on Monday, the country’s emergency services said. The boat was travelling towards Spain, and some passengers are still believed to be missing.

It left Saint-Louis in northern Senegal and overturned on Sunday off Kébémer, north of Dakar. Authorities have not said how many people were aboard; an earlier Interior Ministry statement reported at least 21 deaths and said rescuers were searching for survivors. The boat was travelling along a well-used Atlantic route, where migrants in uncovered wooden canoes make an 800-mile crossing. Unemployment, poverty and economic hardship drive many young Senegalese to seek better prospects; President Bassirou Diomaye Faye offered condolences and vowed to clamp down on the networks behind the crossings.