50 Die Trying To Sail To Canary Islands

At least 50 Africans died while trying to sail from Senegal to the Canary Islands in a boat that was found Tuesday after spending more than two weeks adrift, Spanish police said.

It was one of the highest death tolls this year among Africans trying to escape poverty and reach Europe's southern gateway.

The boat was found in waters off Mauritania by a Mauritanian patrol boat, a Spanish Civil Guard official said.

It had set out from Senegal with 150 people aboard, and after it lost power and food and other supplies ran out, travelers started dying and were thrown overboard, the official said, quoting Mauritanian authorities.

When the vessel was found Tuesday, there were 100 people aboard and two dead bodies, the official said under department rules barring her name from being published.

The boat, which spent 18 days adrift, was found in waters north of the Mauritanian city of Nuadibu.

Hundreds of migrants seeking a better life in Europe die each year while attempting to reach Spain by sailing in simple wooden fishing boats from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands, just off Morocco's coast. The trip often takes more than a week.

In July, some 50 migrants died off the coast of Africa when their boat capsized just as a Spanish patrol vessel tried to come to its aid. In December, 80 others died when their boat sank off Senegal's coast.

Spain says increased air and sea surveillance of Africa's coast has led to a sharp drop in the number of people attempting the journey.

While 24,000 people were caught trying to sail to Spain last year, as of late August the figure was down to 8,000, according to the Interior Ministry.