By Lamin Njie
A panel has been convened and investigators have met ahead of a major probe into a migrant boat accident last week.
A boat carrying 170 passengers capsized off the coast of Mauritania while trying to sneak into Spain’s Canary Islands last week Wednesday. At least 60 people died in the accident most of them natives of Barra.
Police and some natives of Barra have been accused of having a hand in the tragedy, with police at Barra accused of receiving bribes from the smugglers.
Police sources told The Fatu Network today a panel has been convened and officials on the panel “are currently meeting to commence a thorough investigation into the incident”. They will explore all angles and allegations, the sources added.
It comes almost a week after news of hundreds of Gambian youths setting off for the perilous ‘back way’ journey emerged. The youths spend days and sometimes weeks wading in the sea in their attempt to reach Spain’s Canary Islands.
The irregular sea migration to Spain was first discovered in the mid-2000s when thousands of Gambian youths made it to the South-western European nation.
