Overview

• Mauritanian authorities report 17 survivors and ongoing search-and-recovery operations near M’haijratt, about 60 kilometers north of Nouakchott.
• Counts remain disputed: officials describe dozens of bodies recovered, media cite roughly 69–70, and NGO Caminando Fronteras says 144 people were aboard with about 40 bodies found and 16 survivors.
• Survivors said the vessel departed Gambia about six days earlier with passengers largely from Gambia and Senegal.
• The head of the Mauritanian Coast Guard told AFP the boat likely capsized when passengers shifted to one side after spotting coastal lights.
• Spanish unions and NGOs urged urgent legal pathways as separate rescues of 40 people were conducted in the Balearic Islands.