Many migrants died in a shipping accident in the Atlantic

At least 21 people have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Senegal, at a time when there are many more migrant journeys taking place along the African Atlantic coast.

The accident occurred off the coast of the Kébémer department in north-western Senegal, according to the country’s Ministry of the Interior.

The death toll is provisionally estimated at 21. One person is reported to have survived and search operations are ongoing. The state news agency APS quotes a source as saying that at least 20 bodies were found washed up on a beach. It is not known how many people were on board the boat.

Senegal is a common transit country for migrants seeking to reach the Spanish Canary Islands and Europe by sea. Their numbers have risen sharply in a short space of time, and on Saturday alone more than 700 migrants arrived on the islands. In just over a week, more than 3,300 have arrived on the island of El Hierro, and the local authorities there have declared a state of emergency.

^{Cover image: Many migrant journeys via Senegal take place in simple wooden boats such as these, photographed on a beach in the capital, Dakar. Archive image. Photo: Leo Correa/AP/TT}