In Saint-Louis, the morning was brutal yesterday. With the capsizing of a canoe at the level of the breach, which has become a cemetery, 6 candidates for irregular immigration lost their lives there. If the Navy was able to save 4 lives, about fifty migrants are still missing. Worrying!

Nothing seems to be able to put an end to the phenomenon. Irregular immigration has again claimed victims in Saint-Louis, where a boat carrying around sixty people capsized yesterday around 5 a.m. at the mouth: 6 of its occupants, who would have embarked in Kafountine, were found dead, 4 survivors were fished out and around fifty missing are counted, according to the first report.

According to the first information received from the authorities in charge of this case, they would be about 60 people to have boarded this canoe, which would have started in Kafountine for some and Joal for others in the direction of Spain. Unfortunately for them, technical problems observed on one of the engines would have forced the conveyors to seek to return to dry land. This is how they arrived by chance at the mouth of the Senegal River, at the level of the breach of Saint-Louis where the canoe finally capsized. This place, known to be very dangerous, even for the most seasoned seafarers, has swallowed hundreds of people in recent years.

Alerted very early, the Defense and Security Forces, in particular the Navy and elements of the 51st Fire Brigade Company, began a search which enabled them to recover 6 dead bodies as well as 4 survivors. The other occupants of the canoe are still missing. According to the information collected on the spot, 4 bodies were taken to Louga hospital and the other two to the Saint-Louis regional hospital.

In addition, 4 survivors have been counted, 3 of whom are being monitored in the premises of the French Navy at the Hydrobase and the fourth hospitalized at the Regional Hospital. Elements of the Navy and the 51st Fire Company, which mobilized two speedboats and three zodiacs, continued the search throughout the day in the hope of finding survivors.

The police, for their part, have opened an investigation to find out a little more about this matter, which is not a first in Saint-Louis, which has also become a privileged starting point for candidates for illegal immigration. A few days ago, the police dismantled a network of smugglers, who were trying to transport young people to Spain. Despite the many efforts made by the authorities to discourage candidates for these trips, the outcome of which is very dangerous, and to make them aware of the employment or self-employment opportunities that they can seize here, young people do not give up and continue to try the adventure by braving the ocean. Often, it is their cemetery…

By Cheikh NDIONGUE / cndiongue@lequotidien.sn