89 Migrants Dead At Sea Off Mauritania: News Agency

Nouakchott, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Jul, 2024) Nearly 90 migrants bound for Europe perished when their boat capsized earlier this week off the coast of Mauritania, the state news agency and a local official said Thursday, while dozens more remain missing.

"The Mauritanian coast guard recovered the bodies of 89 people aboard a large traditional fishing boat that capsized on Monday July 1 on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean" about four kilometres from the country's southwest city of Ndiago, the state news agency said.

The coastguard rescued nine people, including a five-year-old girl, it said.

The agency quoted survivors saying that the boat had set sail from the border of Senegal and Gambia with 170 passengers on board, bringing the number of missing to 72.