Overview

• Authorities say a pirogue carrying about 160 people capsized during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday roughly 80 kilometers north of Nouakchott.
• Coast‑guard patrols rescued 17 survivors and recovered 49 bodies that have been buried, with searches continuing and the toll described as provisional.
• Officials gave conflicting accounts of the departure point, with one version citing The Gambia and another saying the vessel came from Guinea.
• A coast‑guard official said the boat overturned after passengers shifted to one side when they saw the lights of Lemhaijratt.
• The incident highlights the lethal Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands, where NGO data recorded 10,457 dead or missing in 2024, as Human Rights Watch accuses Mauritanian forces of abuses in a report published this week.