Senegalese authorities have updated this Monday to 39 the death toll near the beach of Lompul, in the north of the country, after a vessel ran aground off the coastline, with a single person located alive so far.
During the day, the rescue teams recovered the lifeless bodies of four other people, after three days of search and rescue work deployed along a stretch of coast of about 25 kilometers, which is difficult to access, as detailed by the state news agency APS.
In total, 24 corpses have already been identified and handed over to their families, while another eleven remain unidentified, bearing in mind that the last four bodies found showed an advanced state of decomposition.
The APS has also specified that the authorities have launched an investigation to clarify the causes and circumstances of the shipwreck, which occurred in the Senegalese department of Kébémer, in the Louga region. Governor Ndèye Nguénar Mbodj traveled this Sunday to the site to oversee on the ground the tasks of identification and preservation of the remains.
The International Organization for Migration (OIM) has expressed its condolences for what happened and emphasized that "behind each of the lives that have been lost, there were hopes, plans, a future to build," in the words of its head of mission in the African country, Aissata Kane.
According to data from this UN body, at least 454 people have died or gone missing trying to reach Europe along this route since the start of the year until last October 26, figures that "represent only a small part of the total." "Many vessels disappear far from the coast, with no survivors, without bodies being recovered and without any explanation of what happened," the organization adds.
The OIM has warned of the serious risk faced by those who choose this itinerary, since vessels are diverted toward Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to avoid controls, which are increasingly intense, in the usual departure areas.
These diversions "can add up to 750 kilometers to crossings, extending some journeys to approximately 2,200 kilometers," which implies that the people on board "spend more time at sea, off more isolated coastlines, and are more vulnerable to dehydration, shipwrecks and disappearances."
For this reason, the IOM has urged "countries of origin, transit and destination to maintain constant cooperation throughout the entire route," which includes coordinating search and rescue operations, support for survivors and families in mourning, improving information systems on missing migrants, combating human trafficking networks, and investing in economic opportunities in countries of origin.