The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Wednesday that more than 60 migrants are likely to have perished on board a pirogue that departed the coast of Senegal at the start of July and was discovered off the coast of Cape Verde on Monday.

According to IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli, four youngsters between the ages of twelve and sixteen were among the 38 survivors out of an estimated 63 fatalities.

The boat was seen in the Atlantic on Monday by a Spanish fishing boat around 150 nautical miles (277 km) from the Cape Verdean island of Sal, which informed the Cape Verdean authorities, according to the police of the archipelago, which is about 600 kilometers off the coast of Senegal.

Along with the 38 survivors, the rescuers also discovered seven other people’s remains.

The boat left the Senegalese coast town of Fass Boye (west) on July 10 with 101 passengers, all Senegalese save for one Bissau-Guinean, according to the survivors’ accounts cited by the Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other sources.

As a result, 56 individuals are listed as missing. The representative said, “Typically, when persons are reported missing after a shipwreck, they are believed dead.

The events that followed the pirogue’s departure on July 10 have not yet been the subject of any reaction from the authorities.

However, according to Abdou Karim Sarr, a representative of the Local Artisanal Fishing Councils (CLPA), a reputable organization, “those reported missing are all dead.”

According to Moda Samb, a local councilor from Fass Boye, there is “sadness, consternation, despair, and total calm.”

98% of the pirogue’s passengers, according to Mr. Samb, were from Fass Boye; “they were born and raised” there.

The other (missing) people were dead, according to one of the survivors who spoke to his father on the phone, he claimed. He stated that “other (families) are waiting to learn if their children are among the survivors.”

In spite of the perilous nature of the journey, which claims hundreds of lives each year, Cape Verde is located along the maritime migration route that thousands of Africans use to migrate to Europe every year in order to escape conflict or poverty or to seek a better life.

They move about in inexpensive boats or motorized pirogues that are provided by smugglers who demand a fee for the trip. The Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago and entry point to Europe, are where many people land.

Many stories describe the dangers of the journey, which were susceptible to the whims of the weather, engine problems, thirst, and hunger.

The passengers, seven of whom were hospitalized after disembarking on the island of Sal on Tuesday, were assisted by the Cape Verdean authorities, who claimed to have mobilized all available resources.

The Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it was striving to return its citizens “as soon as possible”.

Mid-January saw the rescue of some 90 migrants from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone in the waters off Cape Verde.

Senegal has recently experienced a number of tragic migration-related events.

On the night of July 23–24, sixteen migrants perished after their boat capsized close to Dakar. A few days prior, 13 or more Senegalese had perished off the coast of Morocco.

A national strategy to combat irregular migration was unveiled by the Senegalese government at the end of July, focusing on prevention, border control, repression, and the repatriation and reintegration of migrants.