UNHCR reports 144 migrants dead or missing off Mauritania

At least 144 refugees and migrants were reported dead or missing following a series of maritime incidents off the coast of Mauritania last week, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The tragedies occurred as people attempted the perilous Atlantic crossing from West Africa to Europe’s Canary Islands.

The UNHCR said three separate rescue and disembarkation operations were conducted from the Mauritanian port city of Nouadhibou between July 14 and July 18, bringing 387 people of various nationalities safely ashore. The deadliest incident involved a vessel that departed from Bufuloto in Gambia, bound for Spain’s Canary Islands. That boat was rescued on July 18 after drifting at sea for nearly 25 days, but only 38 people survived. The agency reported that 143 others aboard were dead or missing.

Among the survivors from that vessel were two children who lost all of their family members during the journey and are now recovering in a hospital with other survivors, the UNHCR said. A further death was recorded among people rescued from another boat that disembarked on July 14.

The Mauritanian coast guard provided similar accounts, stating that 122 migrants went missing from a...