Sahel Edition

Brief: Fifteen Migrants Found Dead in a Boat off the Coast of Nouadhibou, Mauritania

Posted On 6 February 2025

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Fifteen undocumented migrants, including one Mauritanian, have died off the coast of Nouadhibou, according to a Sahara Media. Authorities in Nouadhibou discovered a boat carrying 39 migrants, among whom nine were found dead, and ten others were in critical condition. The Mauritanian Red Crescent transported the critically ill survivors to the hospital. The survivors, identified as Senegalese and Malian nationals, informed the Mauritanian Red Crescent that fifteen migrants had died from exhaustion, though their bodies were not recovered. The Nouadhibou municipality received the bodies of the deceased migrants and arranged their burial in the presence of representatives from the neighboring countries of Mauritania. Recently, more African migrants have been using Mauritania as a transit point to reach European shores due to its proximity to Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

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