The captain of a migrant boat that capsized off Senegal over the weekend has been arrested, local authorities announced Tuesday.
Cheikh Sall, the owner and captain of the vessel, surrendered himself to police on Monday, according to district prefect Amadou Diop.
The tragic incident resulted in 26 confirmed deaths, as reported by Senegal’s navy on social media platform X.
The artisanal fishing boat had departed from Mbour, a town located approximately 80 kilometers south of Dakar, on Sunday afternoon, en route to Europe, before capsizing just a few miles off the Senegalese coast.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in migrants departing from West Africa through Senegal, driven by conflict, poverty, and limited job opportunities.
Many migrants aim for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago serving as a gateway to continental Europe.
Since January, over 22,300 individuals have arrived in the Canary Islands, a 126% increase compared to the same period last year, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.
Last month, the Senegalese army conducted a 12-day operation that led to the arrest of 453 migrants and members of smuggling networks, with more than half being Senegalese.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands remains one of the world’s deadliest migrant routes.
Recent incidents include a July capsizing off Mauritania that resulted in over a dozen deaths and at least 150 missing.
Migrant vessels often disappear in the Atlantic, with some drifting for months before being discovered in distant regions.
