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80 dead in Senegal boat mishap
At least 80 African migrants died when a boat carrying around 150 passengers capsized off Senegal's coast.
At least 80 African migrants died when a boat carrying around 150 passengers capsized off Senegal's coast, media reports said.
About 24 people were rescued in the accident on Saturday and some of the survivors were being treated in the northern Senegalese city of St Louis.
The boat, a small fishing craft, departed from the south of Senegal earlier this month on a journey to Spain's Canary Islands but lost control and ran out of fuel later, according to the Senegalese Press Agency.
The situation worsened by bad weather, and the passengers, mostly African job seekers, had to drink ocean water after they ran out of food.
The drifting craft capsized at least twice and spilled many passengers into the sea before it was rescued near St Louis on Saturday.
According to statistics of the Spanish authorities, about 20,000 young people from West Africa have reached the Canary Islands through such adventure to seek jobs in European countries since January and hundreds have lost their lives in their attempts so far this year.
Last week, four people were killed when a migrant boat carrying dozens of job seekers sank on the sea near here.
