The Mauritanian News Agency (Agence Mauritanienne d’information/AMI) reported that the bodies of 89 refugees were recovered after their boat sank off the coast of the country.
The AMI added on Friday that nine people were rescued.
An informed source told the AMI’s office in Rosso that the Mauritanian Coast Guard had recovered the bodies, and that they had been on board a large traditional fishing boat that ran aground on Monday on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean off the village of Al-Qahera, four kilometers from the city of N’Djiago.
The source stated that the Mauritanian Coast Guard rescued nine people, including a five-year-old girl.
According to statements by survivors, the boat, which left the Senegalese-Gambian border six days ago heading to Europe, had 170 migrants secretly on board.
