Immigrants die in boat horror

Two boats carrying West Africans to Europe foundered in the Atlantic Ocean in the past three days, leaving at least 45 would-be immigrants dead, Mauritanian health officials said today.

Ahmed Ould Haya, head of Mauritania’s branch of the International Committee of the Red Crescent, said that in the two accidents, between Saturday and early today, fishing boats had saved at least 26 people.

The boats, carrying people from across the impoverished region, had sailed from Mauritania in an attempt to reach Spain’s Canary Islands.

Seventeen other people have been reported missing, he said by telephone from Mauritania.