By Biran Gaye
At least 3 Gambians are reportedly dead and 11 survived after a pirogue sank off the Mediterranean Sea on Monday, reducing the West African country to mourning following the deadly shipwreck weeks ago.
The migrant boat departed from Zuwara, Libya, on Monday night heading towards Italy, according to Refugees In Libya.
“By around 10:00 AM, the boat began losing air and eventually sank. Many passengers were wearing life jackets,” the organisation says, with 14 Gambians reportedly on board. Four people including one Senegalese, one Nigerian, and two individuals of other nationalities, are still missing in addition to the three Gambians confirmed dead.
The Gambians who died include Kendeh Sillah, the boat’s compass man, along with Abdoulie (whose surname is unknown) and Bala Jarju.
After the boat sank, the survivors were in the water for more than five hours before being rescued by a Tunisian fishing boat, added the humanitarian organisation.
“They were then handed over to the Libyan military, who took them to the city and released them. The nationalities represented on the boat include Gambian, Senegalese, Nigerian, Ethiopian, and Sudanese,” it says.
Shortly after the sinking of a Mauritanian boat off the island of El Hierro days ago, the government of the Canary Islands requested help from the Spanish government and the European Union to deal with this tragic situation.
“We are facing a major humanitarian crisis. We need help, the Canarians need help, and those who are looking for a better life also need it. We can no longer bear this pressure,” President Fernando Clavijo was quoted by reports as saying at a press conference.
“We knew this was going to happen and we had warned, but things are going to go badly,” they stressed in the newspaper La Provincia.”
As a reminder, the pirogue that sank on Saturday, September 28, had left Nouadhibou in Mauritania six days earlier, with 84 people on board. In total, 27 survivors were found and 9 bodies recovered, while around fifty migrants remain missing. Search operations have been underway since this morning, led by the Spanish Navy and the Civil Guard.
