The captain of a migrant boat that capsized near Senegal’s coast has been detained, local officials reported on Tuesday.
Cheikh Sall, who owned and captained the ill-fated vessel, voluntarily surrendered to the police on Monday, as confirmed by district prefect Amadou Diop.
The tragic incident, which occurred over the weekend, has claimed the lives of 26 individuals, according to the Senegalese navy. The artisanal fishing boat, which departed from Mbour, approximately 80 kilometers south of Dakar, was en route to Europe when it overturned just a few miles offshore.
In recent years, the number of migrants leaving West Africa, particularly from Senegal, has surged due to ongoing conflict, widespread poverty, and limited employment opportunities. Many migrants aim for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago that serves as a gateway to continental Europe.
Spain’s Interior Ministry has reported that over 22,300 migrants have arrived in the Canary Islands since the beginning of the year, marking a 126% increase from the previous year.
Last month, a 12-day operation by the Senegalese army resulted in the arrest of 453 migrants and members of smuggling networks, with more than half of those detained being Senegalese nationals.
The perilous Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands continues to be fraught with danger, with frequent tragedies and disappearances. A similar incident in July off the coast of Mauritania resulted in over a dozen deaths and at least 150 missing.
