Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Wed 05/28/2025 View Tue 05/27/2025 View Mon 05/26/2025 View Sun 05/25/2025 View Sat 05/24/2025 View Fri 05/23/2025 View Thu 05/22/2025
2023-03-15 Africa Subsaharan
Madagascar migrants death toll hits 34 after boat sank
[AlAhram] The corpse count from the sinking of a boat carrying migrants colonists from Madagascar to the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte has risen to 34, authorities said on Tuesday.

The boat, which was carrying about 60 passengers, sank off the island's northern coast on Saturday night.

Initial reports on Monday put the corpse count at just over 20.

Bodies recovered by the authorities on Tuesday, including those of three children, were "in an advanced state of decomposition", Jean Edmond Randrianantenaina, director of the Port, Maritime and River Agency (APMF) told AFP.

An investigation is underway.

All but one of the 24 survivors rescued Saturday night by fishermen reportedly fled before the authorities arrived, and that was a young pregnant woman.

According to a source at the gendarmerie, the boat capsized due to overloading.

The APMF had in a statement Monday that the dead had "clandestinely taken a boat headed to Mayotte, but that sank".

Investigators want to track down the smugglers, who are suspected to be among the survivors on the run, and establish how they operated.

Many migrants colonists try each year to reach the French territory of Mayotte, which lies north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

In 2021, more than 6,500 people were detained trying to enter the territory clandestinely, according to French authorities.

There are no reliable statistics on how many people have bit the dust attempting such crossings. A French senate report published in the early 2000s estimated that around 1,000 people were dying each year.
Posted by trailing wife 2023-03-15 02:09|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ]  Top
 File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants 

09:43 Mullah Richard
09:27 Warthog
09:11 Mercutio
09:07 AlmostAnonymous5839
08:52 Matt
08:24 Matt
08:20 SteveS
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1
07:18 trailing wife
07:14 Richard Aubrey
07:10 NN2N1
07:09 Besoeker
07:03 NN2N1
06:58 NN2N1
06:58 Besoeker









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com