At least 56 migrants die in shipwrecks off Senegal and Greece
IOM reported deaths in separate incidents on Atlantic and Mediterranean routes. The Senegal toll remains provisional as searches continue.
At least 56 people died in shipwrecks off Senegal and Greece over the weekend, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on 9 November. The incidents involved a migrant boat near Loumpoul and two boats that had departed eastern Libya for waters near Crete, according to news.un.org.
IOM said at least 34 people died in the Senegal incident and at least 22 in the two incidents near Crete. The Senegal search was continuing, with the death toll provisional and the number missing unknown.
- IOM placed the Senegal sinking near Loumpoul on Friday, 6 November; one survivor was rescued.
- The UN account reported 22 deaths across two incidents near Crete, including eight bodies recovered in one and 14 in the other.
- BBC and AFP reports gave higher Senegal tolls as searches continued; accounts differed over whether the boat sank Friday or Saturday.
What happened off Senegal
IOM’s account put the boat’s capsizing near Loumpoul, between Dakar and Saint-Louis, on Friday, 6 November. It said one person was rescued and an unknown number remained missing. The BBC reported at least 39 deaths, citing APS, and said the interior ministry had reported one survivor but had not established how many people were missing. Four bodies were recovered on Monday morning and buried after a collective funeral prayer, the BBC reported. Search teams were covering 25 kilometres of coastline and faced difficult access and strong currents.
AFP, in a report republished by Taipei Times, said at least 35 people had died by Sunday night and described earlier ministry and APS counts as provisional. Its report recorded conflicting accounts of the sinking date: media reports placed it on Saturday, while Saliou Diouf, founder of the Senegalese migrant aid group Boza Fii, said it happened Friday. The nationalities of all victims had not been confirmed, AFP reported.
Two separate incidents near Crete
IOM reported that both boats had departed eastern Libya. In one incident, Greek authorities rescued 28 Sudanese migrants, recovered eight bodies and reported several people missing. In the other, a cargo ship spotted a boat in distress; 18 survivors were rescued and 14 bodies recovered, according to the UN account.
The National reported that the Greek coastguard recovered 13 bodies and rescued 18 people from the second boat, found about 28 kilometres from the port of Kaloi Limenes. One of four people taken to hospital later died. Greek authorities said the boat may have been at sea for several days and may have struggled to reach shore in strong winds; the circumstances of the deaths were not immediately clear.
What it means for Atlantic-route travellers
IOM Director General Amy Pope said the deaths highlighted the risks of Atlantic and Mediterranean journeys. She said smugglers and traffickers charged people for dangerous crossings on boats “that were not fit for the sea” and called for countries to act together against those networks and provide safe, legal ways to move.
IOM said it had recorded at least 454 deaths and disappearances on the Western African Atlantic Route by 26 October 2026, a minimum estimate because boats can disappear without trace. It said departures were increasingly shifting south towards The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, lengthening journeys and exposing migrants to greater risks. Separately, the BBC reported that migrant-rights group Walking Borders recorded 635 deaths on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands from January through May 2026, its highest toll among routes it monitors.
The BBC cited IOM on limited employment opportunities, family pressures and established migration networks as factors driving people to leave Senegal. It also reported, citing the national statistics agency, that nearly one in four young people in Senegal was unemployed in the second quarter of 2026. Local authorities told the BBC that more than 3,300 people had reached El Hierro in about 30 boats since the start of November; the island declared an emergency on Saturday amid the arrivals.
The final death toll and number of people still missing from the Senegal sinking remain unknown.
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What this story rests on
4 sources from 4 organisations: 2 news agencys, 1 official source, 1 broadcaster.
- 1At least 56 migrants die in weekend shipwrecks off Senegal and GreeceUN News, reporting IOM’s account · news.un.orgOfficial source
- 2Canary Islands: 39 dead after migrant boat sinks off Senegal en route to EuropeBBC News, by Ondiro Oganga and Madina Maishanu; separately reported, with details attributed to APS, local sources and IOM · bbc.co.ukBroadcaster
- 3At least 35 killed in migrant boat sinking off SenegalAFP, republished by Taipei Times · taipeitimes.comNews agency
- 4Thirteen migrants found dead and 18 rescued from boat off Greece's Crete islandThe National, reporting Greek coastguard statements and quoting Reuters for an anonymous local coastguard account · thenationalnews.comNews agency
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