Over 50 migrants drown en route to Spain

Over 50 migrants trying to reach Spain by boat from West Africa have drowned.

A migrant rights group, Walking Borders, said on Thursday.

Moroccan authorities on Wednesday rescued 36 people from a boat that had departed from Mauritania on January 2, the group based in Madrid and Navarra said.

The boat had carried 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis.

According to the group, around 10,457 migrants, or 30 people died daily trying to reach Spain in 2024.

READ ALSO: Rescue ship saves 48 migrants, mostly underaged, from Mediterranean Sea

“Most died while attempting to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary islands,’’ it said.

The group said it had alerted authorities from all countries involved six days ago about the missing boat.

Alarm Phone, a Non-Governmental Organisation, that provided an emergency phone line for migrants lost at sea, said it had alerted Spain’s maritime rescue service on January 12.

The service said it did not have any information about the boat.

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