Mauritania rescues 7 migrants from sea, but 47 feared dead

Associated Press

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — The Mauritanian Coast Guard has rescued a group of seven migrants from a stranded boat in the coastal Atlantic, though 47 other passengers are feared dead. The International Organization for Migration said Tuesday the boat was carrying West Africans trying to migrate to Spain’s Canary Islands, off northwest Africa. Just days after the boat departed on August 2 from Morocco, the engine broke down and the vessel drifted for two weeks. Survivors told the IOM that without adequate food or water and not knowing where they were going, passengers began to die off. The boat drifted until it was found Monday by the Mauritanian coast guard.