Migrants died on the coast of Brazil: A ship sank after 3 months of drifting. They had left from Mauritania.

They had to travel a distance of less than 500 nautical miles, from the coast of Mauritania to the coast of the Canary Islands of Spain. Another journey of migrants to reach European Union territory in one of the most crowded areas of this kind on the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, the ship's helm lost course and the boat began to spin and then ended up adrift. At least 25 people on board were lost in the Atlantic Ocean. Their journey began on January 17, most likely towards the small island of El Hierro. Without a compass, without navigational tools, without a satellite phone, at the mercy of the waves and the pirate fishermen who prey on the small boats along the migration route. The engine used by the heroes of this story was without an engine, and once it went off the track, it ended up on the high seas. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean carrying her tragic cargo. A few kilometers from Belem, Brazil, and two thousand nautical miles west of the destination, a group of fishermen intercepted the white and blue boat stuck on an isolated beach. Inside were nine bodies in an advanced state of decomposition, items and clothes, and 25 life jackets. The Brazilian authorities confirmed, based on the type of boat used and the documents found, that “the victims were immigrants from the African continent and from the region of Mauritania and Mali.” According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 1,400 migrants lost their lives in 2023 while trying to reach the Canary Islands from Africa. According to the NGO Caminando Frontras, the number of victims has at least quadrupled, and in the first months of 2024 another 1,500 people have died.

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