The boat departed “in all likelihood” from the region of Laounay (Western Sahara) for the Canary Islands (Spain) on 3 August, but took almost two weeks from Nouadibou for engine and drift damage before being spotted by the Mauritanian Coast Guard on Monday. had arrived. IOM official Nicolas Hochart said, contacted by AFP over the phone.

Fifty people, including two children under the age of three and a juvenile, of whom three are now missing, were initially on board, he said, citing IOM’s testimony from the survivors. They were West African, they added without further ado.

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“The journey, if all goes well, takes a few days (…). From the moment the engine failed, he found himself without water and food in reserve”, he said. He underlines.

This route through the Atlantic and the west coast of Africa to the Canaries, the gateway to Europe, is one of the privileged routes taken each year by thousands of African migrants on modest boats. This is a very dangerous journey. At least 300 people have been killed or gone missing on the “Atlantic Route” since early 2021, Hochart said.