BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Nearly 70 migrants died when their boat sank while trying to reach Spain earlier this month, Mali’s minister for Malians living abroad said.
In a press release on Thursday, Mossa Ag Attaher announced that a migrant boat bound for Spain sank on December 19. According to the ministry, “there were 80 migrants in this boat at the beginning, with only 11 survivors.” Malian authorities have identified nine Malians among the survivors, and “unfortunately 25 young Malians have been officially identified among the victims,” the minister added.
The Atlantic route for migrants from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest in the world. Located closer to Africa than mainland Spain, the archipelago is seen by most as a step towards continental Europe. Many of those making the journey come from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and other West African countries, seeking better job opportunities abroad or fleeing violence and political instability.
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Several of the Malian victims are from the Kayes region in the west of the country, Doulaye Keita, an adviser to the ministry, said in a statement to the AP on Friday.
“Among the 25 dead Malians, there are eight Malians from my municipality,” Mamadou Siby, the mayor of the municipality of Marena in the Kayes region, told The Associated Press.
“These dead young men left my commune seven months ago to work in the construction industry in Mauritania. Unfortunately, they had contact with their friends in Europe and America, who encouraged them to come to these countries, and in most cases they undertook the dangerous journey without even informing their families back home.
