At Least 34 Dead as Migrant Boat Capsizes off Senegal on the Canary Islands Route

At least 34 people have died after a wooden boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of northwestern Senegal, the Senegalese Press Agency reported, in the latest tragedy on the perilous Atlantic route towards Spain's Canary Islands. The small pirogue went down off the dunes at Lompoul, in the Kebemer department, about 180 kilometres north of the capital, Dakar, and the search for those still missing continued through the weekend.

Senegal's interior ministry said on Saturday evening that 21 bodies had been recovered and only one person had been rescued, describing that figure as provisional while the search went on. By Sunday the confirmed toll had risen to 34, according to the migrant support group Action for Human Rights and Friendship, known as ADHA. The number of people aboard the boat has not been established, and with an unknown number still unaccounted for, the confirmed death toll does not give a complete picture of the sinking.

The circumstances of the capsizing, including what caused the vessel to overturn, have not been confirmed. Saliou Diouf, founder of the Senegalese migrant aid association Boza Fii, said the boat went down on Friday, although some reports put the sinking on Saturday. Diouf told the AFP news agency that all the bodies recovered so far were believed to be Senegalese, while the nationalities of the others on board remain to be confirmed as recovery operations continue.

The sinking came as Senegalese authorities said they had intercepted another boat on Friday carrying 142 migrants from several West African countries who were attempting to reach Spanish territory. The Atlantic crossing from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world's deadliest migration routes, with boats often overcrowded and unseaworthy and distances of well over 1,000 kilometres of open ocean between the Senegalese coast and the islands.

On the other side of the route, authorities on El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, declared an emergency on Saturday after a marked increase in migrant boat arrivals. Island officials said more than 3,300 people had arrived on around 30 boats since the start of November. Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders recorded 635 deaths on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands between January and May 2026, the highest toll among the routes it monitors, and estimates that about 21 people died for every 100 who reached the islands during that period.

Thousands of people from West Africa have died in recent years attempting the crossing, and the toll continues to rise as departures increase. With the total aboard the capsized pirogue still unknown and families awaiting news, the authorities' search off the Lompoul coast is expected to continue, and the final death toll may yet climb.