A migrant boat capsized off the coast of Mauritania, resulting in at least 89 deaths.

The vessel, en route to Europe earlier this week, sank offshore, leading to the tragic loss of life, according to Mauritania's state news agency and a senior local government official on Thursday.

“The Mauritanian Coast Guard recovered the bodies of 89 people aboard a large traditional fishing boat that capsized on Monday, July 1 on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean,” the state news agency said.

Dozens of migrants are still missing after the boat capsized approximately four kilometers from the southwestern city of Ndiago.

According to Mauritania's state news agency, survivors reported that the vessel had departed from the border of Senegal and Gambia with 170 passengers on board, leaving 72 migrants unaccounted for. The coastguard has rescued nine people so far, including a five-year-old girl. A senior local government official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed the state agency's report.

Read next: Over 2,000 migrants died crossing the Mediterranean in 2023: IOM

From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic

The route is considered dangerous due to the strong currents but migrants are often piled onto packed, unseaworthy boats, without enough drinking water and necessary supplies for the journey. 

Strict anti-migrant controls in the Mediterranean Sea have forced human traffickers from Africa to use the Atlantic Ocean route to smuggle people to Europe.

In 2023, nearly 40,000 asylum seekers landed on Spain’s Canary Islands, more than double the number from 2022, according to the Spanish government.

The Canary Islands are 100 kilometers from the nearest coast of Northwest Africa. However, many migrant boats set sail from more distant locations and ports along the coasts of Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Gambia, and Senegal.

In the first five months of 2024, more than 5,000 asylum seekers have died en route to Spain by sea, according to the Spanish charity organization Caminando Fronteras.