Mauritania Migrant Boat Disaster: At Least 49 Dead, 100 Missing After Atlantic Shipwreck

The Associated Press , citing the country’s coast guard, said that at least 49 people are dead and almost 100 are still missing after a migrant boat sank off Mheijrat on Mauritania’s Atlantic coast. Some news sources say the death toll is higher; the Guardian says 69 people died, and just 17 people have been rescued so far.

Pope Leo XIV reacted to the disaster by posting a message on X, formerly Twitter asking for compassion and action: “Our hearts are likewise wounded by the more than fifty individuals who died and the one hundred or so who are still missing… “Welcome me, a stranger” (Mt 25:35).

What’s next: Recovery and search activities are still going on throughout the shore. The number of casualties may change as authorities find more victims and identify the missing.