By Lamin Njie
The ministry of foreign affairs has said 13 women were onboard a migrant boat that capsized off the coast of Mauritania on Wednesday.
The Gambia on Thursday woke up to the shocking news of the death of at least 50 Gambian youths after the boat they were travelling in to Spain ran into trouble and capsized. The boat which reportedly took off from Barra last week Wednesday had apparently run out of fuel and sank as it approached the coast of Mauritania.
Family and friends of those onboard the boat have been scrambling for information regarding their loved ones.
The ministry of foreign affairs in a statement on Friday said it been in contact with officials of the Gambian Embassy in Nouakchott who are closely working with Regional Mauritanian authorities as well as the International Organisation for Migration and UNHCR to manage the crisis situation on the ground.
“The official correspondence received from the Gambian Embassy in Nouakchott revealed through the survivors that there were 195 people on board and 63 people have now been confirmed dead. There were 13 women and 11 of them died,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said further: “Investigators are employing different identification techniques such as photos taking of corpses before the burial and using survivors to identify the dead through those photos. This method will help establish the nationalities especially the number of Gambians involved.
“The memo also highlighted that 85 people have been rescued and 10 of them are receiving medical care. From the 85 rescued, 78 are Gambians and 7 Senegalese nationals. However, 47 people are still missing.”
