42 Migrants Feared Dead as Boat Capsizes Off Western Sahara

42 Migrants Feared Dead as Boat Capsizes Off Western Sahara
Smugglers lift onto a vehicle a fishing boat intended to be used to transport migrants to the Canary Islands, in a remote desert out of the town of Dakhla in Morocco-administered Western Sahara, on Dec. 22, 2020. Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

BARCELONA, Spain—Some 42 migrants, including 30 women and eight children, are believed to have died when their boat capsized in rough seas shortly after setting sail from the coastal town of Dakhla, in Western Sahara, a Spanish migrants rights activist said.

Helena Maleno, founder of the NGO Walking Borders, tweeted late Thursday that she had spoken to one of 10 survivors who claimed to have lost two children in the accident that occurred as the group was trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic.