Senegal migrant boat sinking kills at least 21; search continues off Kébémer

At least 21 people died after a boat carrying migrants sank off Senegal's coast, the country's Interior Ministry said on Sunday. One person had been found alive by Saturday evening, and teams were mobilised to keep searching for further survivors.

Key facts

• At least 21 dead, according to Senegal's Interior Ministry
• One survivor found as of Saturday evening; search operations continuing
• The boat sank off Kébémer, a town north of Dakar
• The number of people on board has not been specified
• Senegal's interior minister is due to visit the site on Monday

What happened?

Senegal's Interior Ministry announced the sinking in a post on X on Sunday. The ministry said one person had been located alive as of Saturday evening and that teams had been deployed to look for any other possible survivors.

The ministry did not say how many people were believed to have been on the boat, so the final number of victims remains unclear.

Where did the boat sink?

The vessel went down off the coast of the town of Kébémer, north of the capital Dakar, the ministry said. It added that Senegal's interior minister will visit the site on Monday.

How dangerous is this migration route?

The Atlantic route from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands is one of the deadliest in the world, the Spanish rights group Walking Borders says. At least 635 people died on it in the first five months of 2026, according to the group.

Walking Borders said that for every 100 migrants who reached the Canary Islands in that period, about 21 died.

Other recent losses on the same stretch of sea include July figures from the United Nations refugee agency, which said nearly 150 people died or went missing within a single week when boats sank off Mauritania as they tried to reach Europe, while almost 400 people were rescued. On the previous New Year's Eve, a boat carrying more than 200 migrants sank off the coast of Gambia, and Red Cross officials reported recovering 44 bodies.

What happens next?

Search teams remain deployed off Kébémer looking for further survivors, and Senegal's interior minister is expected at the site on Monday. No further details on the passengers, the vessel or the point of departure have been released.