According to a Spanish migrant rights activist, 42 migrants, including 30 women and eight children, are believed to be dead after their boat capsized in strong waves immediately after setting sail from the coastal town of Dakhla in Western Sahara.
The victims were 30 women, eight children, and four men, according to Helena Maleno Garzon, founder of the NGO Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders). Only ten of the inmates were able to escape.
Another migrant help organization, the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR), tweeted, “We must not become accustomed to such tragedies.”
Official confirmation from Moroccan officials in Dakhla was not immediately available. However, according to local media, 12 bodies washed up on the beach on Thursday, while ten people were rescued by fishermen off the coast of Dakhla.
Morocco has a naval station in the disputed Western Sahara territory, which it acquired in 1975. The Polisario Front is fighting for the independence of the area.
The Moroccan Navy rescued 30 migrants just south of Laayoune, according to the official MAP news agency, further north along the Western Sahara coast. 59 others, including 14 women and four children, were still missing in a neighbouring stretch of water hundreds of miles from Dakhla.
Separately, the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service reported rescuing 63 individuals near the Canary Islands on Friday.
