Shipwreck with spectators

On Sunday, 8 September 2024, a pirogue bound for the Canary Islands, carrying around one hundred people, capsized just a few miles off the beaches of Mbour, Senegal. More than forty people lost their lives. The vessel was the main source of livelihood for the fisherman and captain Pape Sall and his four sons, who used it to fish as far as the Gambian coast. Facing a persistent economic crisis, Sall and his family decided to organize a journey and attempt the migratory venture to Spain. Pape, well known and respected in the community, and brother of the mayor of Mbour, also invited neighbors, relatives, and friends to leave with him. Known for his generosity, he allowed many passengers to board without paying, trusting they would do so once settled and employed in Europe. But this generosity ultimately led to the pirogue being overloaded beyond its capacity, causing the shipwreck. The tragedy, occurring so close to shore and involving so many neighbors and acquaintances, quickly became a major media event in both Africa and Europe. Unlike many other migrant shipwrecks, this was a shipwreck with spectators, one that profoundly shook Senegalese society. Three days later, the president had to travel to Mbour—located 100 km south of Dakar and the capital of fishing and tourism in Senegal—to promise that “the government would relentlessly pursue these sellers of illusions.” However, despite the terrible tragedy and the president’s words, many residents of Mbour knew that the journey had not been organized by traffickers, but by the necessity of one of their own and by the absence of safe travel alternatives.