Over 60 Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes Off Cape Verde

Praia [Cape Verde]: Over 60 people have been feared dead and 38 others have been rescued after a boat capsized off Cape Verde, Al Jazeera reported citing International Organization for Migration (IOM) authorities.

“More than 60 people are believed to have died when a migrant boat that left Senegal in July capsized off Cape Verde,” the IOM said on Wednesday.

The fishing boat left Senegal a month ago, according to media reports in Cape Verde, an island nation about 620km (385 miles) off the West African coast.

Senegal’s foreign ministry said late on Tuesday that 38 people, including a citizen of Guinea-Bissau, were rescued from the boat, Al Jazeera reported.

The coast guard said the total number of survivors and dead was 48. The local morgue said it had received seven dead bodies.

The vessel was spotted on Monday almost 320km (200 miles) from the island of Sal by a Spanish fishing boat, which alerted Cape Verde authorities, police said.

“We must open our arms and welcome the living and bury the dead with dignity,” Al Jazeera quoted Cape Verdean Health Minister Filomena Goncalves, citing the Inforpress news agency.

The Spanish migration advocacy group Walking Borders said the vessel was a large fishing boat, called a pirogue, which had left Senegal on July 10 with more than 100 refugees and migrants on board.

Cape Verde lies on the maritime migration route to the Spanish Canary Islands – a gateway to the European Union.

Thousands of refugees and migrants fleeing poverty and war risk their lives to make the dangerous journey each year. They often travel in modest boats or motorised canoes supplied by smugglers, who charge a fee for the journey, Al Jazeera reported.

In January, rescue teams in Cape Verde saved about 90 refugees and migrants adrift in a canoe, while two others on board died. They were from Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, as per Al Jazeera.