160 dead in migrant boat sinking

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement Thursday that a ship carrying about 200 migrants sank from Senegal last week, killing more than 160 in the worst wreck recorded in 2020.

Senegalese officials have previously rescued 60 people while killing at least 10 people.

“The local community says there were about 200 people on board, or 160 people died,” Dakar IOM spokeswoman Aissatou Sy said and explained how to calculate the charges.

The agency said it was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy of four boats sinking in the central Mediterranean last week and another sinking in the straits.

“Calling for the unity of governments, partners and the international community, and dismantling trafficking and smuggling networks that utilize desperate young people,” Senegal’s IOM chief, Bakary Dumbia, said in a statement.

At least 414 people died on the Atlantic route in 2020, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, which recorded 210 deaths across 2019.