Four bodies were recovered on 9 November after the boat sank off Kébémer. Rescue teams continue to search 25 kilometers of coast. Senegal’s Interior Ministry said 1 person was rescued, but the number missing remains unknown.
Four bodies were recovered on the morning of 9 November 2026 after a migrant boat sank off Senegal. In its account that day, BBC cited the Senegalese Press Agency as putting the death toll at at least 39.
The sinking occurred off Kébémer in the Louga region of northwestern Senegal. The small wooden boat was heading toward Spain’s Canary Islands when it capsized between Dakar and Saint-Louis. Senegal’s Interior Ministry had counted 21 recovered bodies in its earlier provisional tally on 7 November.
A separate International Organization for Migration account, published by UN News on 9 November 2026, gave a provisional toll of at least 34 deaths from the boat’s capsizing near Loumpoul on Friday. That differs from the earlier press-agency toll; it does not establish a decrease in deaths. The organization said searches were continuing.
BBC said rescue teams were searching a 25-kilometer stretch of coast. Difficult access and strong ocean currents pushing bodies south were complicating the work. The bodies recovered on Monday morning were buried after a collective funeral prayer organized by the fire service.
Authorities said 24 victims had been identified and their bodies returned to their families, while 11 others awaited identification. Senegal’s Interior Ministry said 1 person had been rescued. The number missing remains unknown, and earlier accounts also left the number aboard and the exact circumstances of the sinking unresolved.
The Senegalese Press Agency, citing a security source in an account carried by Thiesinfo, said bodies had been recovered on 7 November along the Lompoul coast in Kébémer’s Tébène area. That followed a report the previous day that a wooden boat had reportedly run aground offshore. Gendarmes and firefighters helped recover bodies and transport them for identification. The agency also described a visit by the Louga governor on 8 November connected with identifying and preserving bodies.
Police say they found and arrested a suspect after a man stabbed on 7 November died in hospital on 8 November. Investigators have opened murder proceedings.
The Interior Ministry said state services had been mobilized to continue searches, help any further survivors and support victims' families. Its earlier statement scheduled the interior minister’s visit for 9 November to express solidarity with relatives and affected communities.
On 7 November, the ministry reaffirmed its intention to combat people-smuggling networks through stronger cooperation with neighboring countries. At the coast, searches and identification work continue, with the death toll still provisional.
DW reports that thousands of people attempt the Atlantic crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands each year, and that thousands have died in recent years after departing Senegal’s coast on that route.
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