Mauritania intercepts a migrant boat with 161 aboard, including 17 children

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — Mauritania said Thursday it intercepted a boat off its coast carrying 161 migrants trying to make their way to Europe.

The country’s coast guard said in a statement it “rescued” the migrants off the coast near the fishing village of Amhijrat, north of the capital, Nouakchott.

The boat was carrying people from Senegal, Guinea and Gambia, including 17 children. It had left Gambia’s capital Banjul eight days ago and was trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands.

The coast guard said the 161 people are expected to be transferred to a migrant reception center in Nouakchott, Mauritania’s capital.

"They were in distress due to a lack of water and food," an immigration official told The Associated Press. “The boat’s engine was extremely worn out and exhausted, and the vessel could no longer move forward, it therefore came to a stop at sea.”

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Mauritania’s waters have become a major route for people from sub-Saharan Africa seeking a better life in Europe as economic opportunities remain scarce at home.

Last month, the United Nations refugee agency said nearly 150 people died or went missing from boats off Mauritania attempting to go to Europe.

The route toward the Canary Islands is “one of the world’s deadliest” with long distances and unseaworthy and overcrowded boats. At least 1,200 migrants died in 2025 along the West Africa-Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project.