At least 21 people died after a small boat carrying migrants and refugees sank off northwestern Senegal, Al Jazeera reported, citing the country’s Interior Ministry.

The ministry said in a statement on Sunday, Nov. 8, that 21 bodies had been recovered and one person rescued. It described the death toll as provisional as of late Saturday, with searches continuing and assistance being provided to victims’ families.

According to media reports cited by Al Jazeera, the flat-bottomed, pirogue-type boat capsized Saturday off the Loumpoul dunes in Kebemer department, between Dakar and Saint-Louis. Senegal’s Le Soleil newspaper reported that most of the victims came from the Leona and Thieppe districts in the same department.

The report did not establish how many people were aboard or the boat’s intended destination.

Thousands of people have died in recent years trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from West Africa. Al Jazeera cited migrant rights group Walking Borders as recording 635 deaths on that journey in the first five months of 2026.

Sources