Dozens of migrants heading to spain are missing and believed to have died after coast guards from the Atlantic island of Cape Verde rescued 38 people on a boat that had left Senegal in West Africa a month earlier with more than 100 people on board, authorities and activists said. Nearly 60 people are believed to have drowned, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The ship was rescued by coast guards in Cape Verde, some 620 kilometers (385 miles) off the west African coast, according to the Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Authorities did not confirm how many people had died or what had cut short the trip.
The Spanish activist group Caminando Fronteras, which defends the rights of migrants, said the ship was a large fishing vessel that left Senegal on July 10 with more than 100 migrants on board.
An IOM spokeswoman, Sada Msehli, said 63 passengers were allegedly killed and 38 survived, including four children between the ages of 12 and 16. Rescue teams have so far found the bodies of seven people.
The ship had set sail from the town of Fass Boye, in western Senegal, according to testimonies of survivors cited by the Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other concurring sources.
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