The voyage from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands, a gateway to the European Union, was supposed to take a week. But the wooden boat carrying 101 men and boys was adrift.
Too often migrants disappear without a trace and witnesses. While accurate figures on the number of deaths do not exist, entire boats have gone missing in the Atlantic, becoming what are known as “invisible shipwrecks.” When bodies do wash ashore, they are often buried in unmarked graves. Spanish authorities routinely fly over a massive area of the Atlantic between West Africa and the Canary Islands looking for lost migrants. But the vast distances, volatile weather conditions and relatively small boats mean they are easily missed. Dozens who were rescued in August after 36 days at sea in a boat told the AP they survived without food and water and watched others die. They saw cargo ships pass by but no one came to their rescue.