At Least 39 Dead After Migrant Boat Sinks Off Senegal

At least 39 people died after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Senegal, according to the Senegalese Press Agency, known as APS, as reported by the BBC.

Earlier figures were lower. On November 8, Reuters reported that Senegal's government had said at least 21 people died, and that a state media report put the toll at more than 30 people. Reuters carried both accounts as the count was still being updated.

The boats that leave Senegal's coast are bound for Spain's Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa. Most of the migrants who arrive in the Canaries by sea are from Senegal, according to the BBC.

The strain on the islands is visible on El Hierro, the westernmost of the main Canary Islands. Authorities there have declared an emergency after a marked increase in migrant boat arrivals, according to Deutsche Welle.

The sinking adds to a toll that has been counted in individual boats and in arrivals on the islands. The same route has seen repeated departures this year.