22 migrants killed in shipwreck off Madagascar

A file photo shows the pier and beach in Madagascar on December 30, 2022 – Image: Gregoire Merot/AFP

Maritime authorities in the African country announced on Monday that 22 migrants who were on a boat bound for the French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean died in a shipwreck off the coast of Madagascar on Saturday.

“Forty-seven people have illegally boarded the vessel with the intention of reaching Mayotte,” the Madagascar Port, Maritime and River Authority (APMF) said in a statement.

“The ship capsized, 23 passengers were rescued and 22 lifeless bodies were recovered,” the statement added.

The wreckage occurred in the Ampanga region in the far north of the country Madagascar. The coast closest to the Big Island is a bit over 350 km from the French province of Mayotte.

Navy, gendarmerie, customs and even simple fishermen were involved in the rescue operations, according to the Asia Pacific Police Force.

Small motorized fishing boats used by smugglers are often wrecks on the sea route Madagascar-Mayottewhich forms part of the archipelago Comoros.

Many African immigrants try to get to the archipelago every year, half of whose population is foreigners.. The Comorian island of Anjouan is located just 70 km from the French island of Mayotte.