Over 60 dead in migrant boat tragedy off Cape Verde
The tragic incident involved a wooden fishing vessel from Senegal, known as a pirogue, and occurred about 150 nautical miles from Cape Verde's Sal island
More than 60 people are feared dead in a migrant boat incident off the Cape Verde islands near West Africa, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Wednesday.
The tragic incident involved a wooden fishing vessel from Senegal, known as a pirogue, and occurred about 150 nautical miles (172 miles) from Cape Verde's Sal island.
The vessel was spotted by a Spanish fishing ship, which alerted Cape Verdean authorities.
Out of the 101 people on board when it departed from the Senegalese fishing village of Fasse Boye on July 10, only 38 survived. The survivors included four children aged between 12 and 16.
"Generally, when people are reported missing following a shipwreck, they are presumed dead," a police spokesperson said.
Emergency services have retrieved the remains of seven individuals, leaving approximately 56 people still missing at sea.
The Cape Verde islands lie on the maritime route used for migration towards the Spanish Canary Islands, a pathway towards the European Union.