The death toll from the capsizing of a migrant boat off Senegal has climbed to 39 after additional bodies were recovered Monday, the country’s emergency services reported.
The vessel departed from Saint-Louis in northern Senegal and was bound for Spain when it overturned Sunday off the coast near Kébémer, north of the capital, Dakar.
Senegal’s Interior Ministry initially said Sunday that at least 21 people had died as rescue teams searched for survivors.
Authorities have not said how many people were aboard, and several passengers are still believed to be missing.
Just one person was found alive.
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The boat was traveling along a well-established migration route used by thousands of young Senegalese searching for improved economic opportunities.
Many make the roughly 800-mile journey across the Atlantic to Europe in open wooden canoes.
Young people in Senegal face widespread unemployment and poverty as the country contends with a deepening economic crisis.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye expressed his condolences and pledged to pursue the networks organizing the perilous crossings.
