Death toll from migrant boat sinking off Senegal rises to 39
International Desk
The death toll from the sinking of a boat carrying migrants off Senegal's coast has risen to 39, the official Senegalese Press Agency (APS) said on Monday, as search and rescue efforts continued and activists demanded an investigation into the government's response to irregular migration.
The incident occurred off Kebemer, a town about 180km north of Dakar. The interior ministry had put the death toll at 21 on Sunday, with one survivor rescued.
Four bodies, found on Monday morning in an advanced state of decomposition, were buried after a collective funeral prayer organised by firefighters, APS reported.
The boat was carrying people seeking to migrate irregularly, the interior ministry statement said. It did not say how many people were on board.
Thousands of people have died in recent years attempting to reach Spain's Canary Islands from West Africa, including 635 in the first five months of this year, according to migrant rights group Walking Borders.
Action for Human Rights and Friendship, a local non-governmental organisation, said on Monday it was calling on the National Assembly to investigate Senegal's "migration governance".
"It is no longer enough to deplore shipwrecks, announce control measures and count interceptions," the group said.
