This incident highlights the ongoing crisis along the West Atlantic Route, where increasing numbers of migrants undertake dangerous journeys in search of better lives or to escape dire conditions in their home countries.

In a tragic maritime disaster, at least 25 migrants have died following the capsizing of a pirogue off the coast of Mauritania.

The vessel, which had embarked from The Gambia with approximately 300 people on board, spent seven perilous days at sea before meeting its fate near Nouakchott on July 22, 2024.

Mauritanian Coast Guards managed to rescue 120 individuals, while efforts to locate the missing continue. Among the survivors, ten were urgently hospitalized, and four unaccompanied and separated children were identified, according to reports by BBC’s Richard Kagoe.

This incident highlights the ongoing crisis along the West Atlantic Route, where increasing numbers of migrants undertake dangerous journeys in search of better lives or to escape dire conditions in their home countries.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 19,700 migrants arrived irregularly in the Canary Islands between January 1 and July 15, 2024, marking a 160 percent increase from the same period in 2023.

Since June 2024, more than 76 boats with about 6,130 surviving migrants have disembarked in Mauritania, with at least 190 migrants reported dead or missing. IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded over 4,500 deaths and disappearances on this route since 2014, with 1,950 fatalities last year alone.

Ibba Sarr, a fishmonger in Nouakchott, reported seeing around 30 bodies being collected from the shore, predicting that more bodies would likely be discovered in the coming days due to strong winds pushing them closer to land.

“IOM is deeply committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of migrants,” said Boubacar Seybou, IOM Chief of Mission in Mauritania. “We work tirelessly supporting the Government of Mauritania to provide necessary assistance to those who have survived and to help locate the missing individuals.”

IOM is collaborating closely with local authorities and humanitarian partners to meet the survivors’ urgent needs, which include emergency medical assistance, shelters, food, and non-food items (NFIs).

Since June 2023, IOM has provided food assistance to nearly 3,500 people, accommodation to 87, and distributed thousands of blankets, emergency food kits, hygiene kits, and essential household items, supported by the European Union and the French Ministry of Europe and

Foreign Affairs.

This disaster follows another recent tragedy in which at least 89 migrants died when their boat capsized off Mauritania earlier this month.

The Atlantic migration route from West Africa to the Canary Islands remains one of the world’s deadliest, with summer being the peak period for such perilous crossings.