Overview

• Mauritania’s coastguard reports 69 people drowned and 17 survivors after a boat that left The Gambia about a week earlier sank north of Nouakchott.
• Gambia’s foreign ministry says at least 70 bodies were recovered with more feared dead, estimating about 150 passengers and reporting 16 rescued.
• Coastguard chief Mohamed Abdallah says the boat flipped when occupants crowded to one side after spotting lights onshore.
• The Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands is among the deadliest migration corridors, with fragile boats and strong currents compounding risk.
• Human Rights Watch this week detailed abuses of migrants by Mauritanian security forces tied to EU-funded controls, and authorities have not responded.