Mauritania’s coast guard rescued 42 migrants from The Gambia and Senegal, including women and children, after their boat experienced engine trouble off the country’s coast on Sunday, August 16, 2026.
According to the coast guard, the group comprised 32 Gambians and 10 Senegalese, including four women, one of whom was pregnant, and three children. The vessel was rescued off the coast of Nouadhibou and towed to the city’s port.
The rescue comes amid an increase in migrant boats being intercepted or rescued off Mauritania’s coast. Hundreds of migrants, mainly from West Africa, have been rescued in recent months while attempting to reach Europe through the Atlantic route.
Thousands of West Africans, mostly young people, undertake the dangerous journey from the region’s shores to the Spanish Canary Islands, often travelling in overcrowded and poorly equipped boats. Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s economic capital and major fishing port has become an important point along the Atlantic migration route.
