DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The captain of a migrant boat that capsized off Senegal over the weekend was arrested, local authorities said Tuesday, as the death toll rose to 26.
Cheikh Sall, the owner and captain of the boat, turned himself in Monday, Amadou Diop, the district’s prefect, told The Associated Press.
The death toll of the capsizing rose to 26, Senegal's navy said on the social media platform X on Tuesday.
The artisanal fishing boat left the town of Mbour, nearly 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the capital Dakar heading to Europe on Sunday afternoon before capsizing a few miles (kilometers) off the coast.
In recent years, the number of migrants leaving West Africa through Senegal has surged with many fleeing conflict, poverty and the lack of job opportunities. Most head to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of West Africa, which is used as a stepping stone to continental Europe.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 22,300 people have landed on the Canary Islands, 126% more than the same period last year, according to statistics released by Spain’s Interior Ministry.
Last month, the Senegalese army said it had arrested 453 migrants and “members of smuggling networks” as part of a 12-day operation patrolling the coastline. More than half of those arrested were Senegalese nationals, the army said.
In July, a boat carrying 300 migrants, mostly from Gambia and Senegal, capsized off Mauritania. More than a dozen died and at least 150 others went missing.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest in the world. While there is no accurate death toll because of the lack of information on departures from West Africa, the Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders estimates the victims are in the thousands this year alone.
Migrant vessels that get lost or run into problems often vanish in the Atlantic, with some drifting across the ocean for months until they are found in the Caribbean and Latin America carrying only human remains.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
FILE - Children play on fishing boats known as "pirogues" in Dakar, Senegal, June 24, 2023. Large pirogues are used in migrant crossings from Senegal to Spain. (AP Photo/Zane Irwin, File)
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Austrian skier Cornelia Huetter silenced the Swiss crowd when she finished ahead of home favorite Lara Gut-Behrami to win a World Cup super-G on Saturday.
The race also marked the return of Lindsey Vonn after nearly six years of retirement, with the American standout crossing in 14th.
It was Huetter’s second win in two weekends, having also claimed a downhill in Beaver Creek, Colorado, a week ago.
Huetter trailed Olympic champion Gut-Behrami at every checkpoint but made up time on the bottom section of the Corvaglia course to finish 0.18 seconds ahead.
No Austrian had won a super-G in St. Moritz since Michaela Dorfmeister in 2006.
Sofia Goggia finished third, 0.33 behind, while Vonn was 1.18 back.
It was Huetter’s eighth World Cup win and fifth in super-G. Last season, Huetter won the season-long World Cup downhill title.
Another super-G is scheduled for St. Moritz on Sunday.
Italy's Sofia Goggia competes in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Switzerland's Lara Gut Behrami competes in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Switzerland's Lara Gut Behrami checks her time at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Austria's Cornelia Huetter, center, winner of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, celebrates on the podium with second-placed Switzerland's Lara Gut Behrami, left, and third-placed Italy's Sofia Goggia, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Austria's Cornelia Huetter competes in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Lindsey Vonn competes in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Austria's Cornelia Huetter celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Austria's Cornelia Huetter celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
