dpa
Nouakchott
Mauritanian authorities retrieved 87 bodies and rescued 36 people on Thursday after a boat carrying African migrants capsized off the country, security sources said.
The boat is believed to have carried 184 people, most of them from Senegal, Gambia, and other African countries, leaving dozens still missing, the source added. The boat capsized due to strong winds and high waves near the southern Mauritanian village of Ndiago, which is also close to the Senegal River.
Earlier this year, the European Union promised Mauritania, a former French colony, financial support worth 210 million euros ($229mn), to be used to tackle migration and provide humanitarian aid for migrants. The agreement came amid a steep increase in the number of migrants setting off from there towards Spain’s Canary Islands.
More refugee boats have been arriving on the Canary Islands, around 100 kilometres off the north-west coast of Africa, for some time now. According to the latest survey by the Spanish Interior Ministry, there were almost 19,000 migrants this year up to June 15, which is around 220 percent more than in the same period last year.
