34 People Die as Boat Carrying Migrants Sinks on Way to Spain

(Boat Carrying Migrants. Photo Credit: BBC News)

At least 34 people have died after a small wooden boat carrying people trying to travel to Europe capsized off the coast of Senegal.

The Interior Ministry said only one person has been rescued so far, and it is still not clear how many people are missing.

The small wooden boat capsized between the capital, Dakar, and the northern city of Saint-Louis.

It was heading for Spain's Canary Islands.

Saliou Diouf, founder of the Senegalese migrant aid group Boza Fii, told reporters that all the bodies recovered so far are Senegalese.

Search operations are still going on, and the nationalities of the other people on board have yet to be confirmed.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has sent his condolences to the families of the victims and urged Senegalese citizens not to risk their lives on these crossings.

In a post online, he promised to step up efforts to shut down the groups that organise the journeys.

The tragedy adds to growing concern about the danger of the Atlantic route.

Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders recorded 635 deaths on this route between January and May 2026, the highest of any route it tracks.

It estimates that about 21 people died for every 100 who reached the Canary Islands in that period.

Senegalese authorities also stopped another boat on Friday carrying 142 people, including women and children, heading for Spain.

The group included people from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Spain declared a state of emergency on the island of El Hierro on Saturday after more than 3,300 people arrived there in about 30 boats since the start of November.

The International Organization for Migration says limited jobs, family pressure and established smuggling networks are pushing many people to leave Senegal.

Nearly one in four young people there was unemployed in the second quarter of 2026, according to the country's statistics agency.

That is a major challenge for President Faye, whose support came largely from young voters in the 2024 election.

Senegal's government promised to keep cracking down on human trafficking and to team up more with its neighboring countries to stop it.