CANARIES: Seventeen African migrants died of hunger and thirst in a boat while trying for two weeks to reach Spain, the Red Crescent in Mauritania said yesterday.
The vessel had left Senegal bound for the Canary Islands but was intercepted by a marine patrol boat off Mauritania and brought to the northern port of Nouadhiboud.
Thousands of young Africans have been leaving West Africa's shores in rickety fishing boats hoping to reach Europe and find work to send money home. Many run out of food, fuel and water on the journey to the Canaries.
However, some 15,000 have made it illegally to the islands this year, double the number recorded last year.
