Spanish rescue teams search for missing boat carrying 325 African migrants

The vessel reportedly departed from Kafountine, a coastal town in southern Senegal located around 1,700 kilometers (1,057 miles) away from Tenerife.

According to the aid group Walking Borders, the boat includes a significant number of children. Additionally, reports suggest that two other boats carrying several more individuals are also unaccounted for.

The missing boat, with around 325 people on board, set sail from Kafountine on June 27, intending to reach the Canary Islands.

This unfortunate incident follows closely after a major migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean, where an overcrowded trawler capsized off the Greek coast. While the confirmed death toll reached 78, the United Nations reported that up to 500 individuals remain missing.

The route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is notorious for its dangers, as migrants often undertake the journey in simple dugout fishing boats vulnerable to the powerful Atlantic currents.

In 2022, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded a death toll of 559 people at sea while attempting to reach the Spanish islands, and the figure for 2021 reached 1,126. (ILKHA)