At least 39 people have died after a wooden boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Senegal, according to the Senegalese Press Agency, as quoted by the BBC.
The boat capsized between the capital, Dakar, and the northern city of Saint-Louis while heading for Spain’s Canary Islands. Senegal’s interior ministry said one person had been rescued and that the number of people still missing was not yet established. Rescue teams have been searching a 25km (15-mile) stretch of coastline, work complicated by difficult access and strong currents that are pushing bodies south.
The toll and the recovery
Four bodies were recovered on Monday morning in an advanced state of decomposition and buried after a collective funeral prayer organised by the fire service. Authorities say 24 of the 39 victims have been identified and their bodies returned to their families. Saliou Diouf, founder of the Senegalese migrant aid group Boza Fii, told Agence France-Presse that all the bodies recovered by Sunday evening were Senegalese, and that the nationalities of others on board were still being established.
A route that keeps killing
The Atlantic crossing from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. The Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders recorded 635 deaths on the route between January and May 2026, the highest toll among the routes it monitors, according to the BBC. Its estimate is that for every 100 people who reach the Canary Islands by sea, 21 die during the crossing.
Senegalese rights groups have demanded government action. Al Jazeera reported that a Senegalese human rights organisation called on the authorities to respond after the sinking, noting that thousands of people have died in recent years attempting the crossing.
The Daily Lens could not independently verify the final death toll: figures come from Senegal’s interior ministry via the national press agency and partner outlets, and the number of people on board has not been confirmed.
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