More than 20 dead as refugee boat sinks off Senegal

Rescuers have pulled more than 20 bodies from the sea off northern Senegal after a boat loaded with hundreds of refugees and migrants heading for Europe sank, a regional governor and survivors told the AFP news agency.

"A little more than 20 bodies" had been found, Saint-Louis regional governor Alioune Badara Samb said by telephone on Wednesday, adding that another 20 people had been saved.

Badara Samb did not say how many passengers were aboard the vessel but survivors told AFP that the number could have been in the hundreds.

Mamady Dianfo, from Casamance in the far south of the country, said there were about 300 passengers when the boat left Senegal a week ago.

Another survivor, Alpha Balde, spoke of 200 passengers.

Senegal's coasts are an increasingly common departure point for African refugees and migrants heading to the Spanish Canary Islands, their port of entry into Europe.

----

Source: TRT