shipwreck - The African Mirror

Apr

2021

At least 40 migrants drown in shipwreck off Tunisia

AT least 40 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, United Nations and Tunisian officials said on Friday. The Tunisian costguard had so far recovered 21 bodies, all African migrants, and rescued three people, Tunisian officials said. The dead included at least one child. "The boat sank during a trip that started late on Thursday from Sfax... So far, the coastguard has recovered 21 bodies and the search is still continuing," Mouard Mechri, director of Tunisia's civil protection service, told Reuters. The coastline near the port city of Sfax has become…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

At least 74 migrants dead in shipwreck off Libya coast, IOM says

NEWS

AT least 74 migrants died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya on Thursday, the United Nations' migration agency said, with 47 survivors brought to shore by coastguards and fishermen. Libya, which has had no stable central government since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, is a major transit point for mainly African migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe. At least 900 have already drowned this year attempting the crossing, according to the agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Another 11,000 have been stopped at sea and returned to Libya, where migrants are often detained, exploited…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

At least 5 migrants die in shipwreck off Libya, NGO says

NEWS

AT least five people have died in a migrant shipwreck in the central Mediterranean, Spanish charity Open Arms has announced, warning that the number of fatalities could grow as rescue operations continue. Some 100 people had been travelling for about two days on a dinghy that collapsed in international waters off Libya where it was assisted by Open Arms, the NGO said. It said it was carrying out the rescue operation on its own, with just two speed boats and six rescuers. "That's what happens when you leave people at sea for days," the charity wrote on Twitter. On Tuesday,…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Around 40 migrants drown in shipwreck off Mauritanian coast

NEWS

A boat carrying around 40 migrants and refugees has sunk off the coast of Mauritania, leaving only one survivor, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. The perilous sea passage from West Africa to the Canary Islands was once a major route for migrants seeking jobs and a better life in Europe. Attempts became scarcer when Spain stepped up patrols in the mid-2000s, but the route is seeing a fresh surge. "New shipwreck off the coast of Nouadhibou #Mauritania of approximately 40 persons on board, there is one survivor (from Guinea)," tweeted UNHCR special envoy Vincent Cochetel. UNHCR "along…