Over 14 migrants including Nigerians confirmed dead and 12 people sustained injuries as 4 out of them suffered second-degree burns, when a boat caught fire in south Senegal. 

According to reports, they embarked on a journey to Spanish Canary Islands before the boat caught fire.

The mayor of the coastal town, Kafountine in Casamance, David Diatta said that the fire incident happened on Monday.

“We’ve been able to recover 14 bodies. The toll will likely rise,” Diatta said, according to Info Migrants. “The boat carried 140 people including Nigerians, Guineans, Gambians and Senegalese, and almost 90 people survived the inferno were able to be identified. But the search continued for those still missing.

“There were Guineans, Nigerians, Gambians and Senegalese. The survivors are saying that the fire was started by someone smoking a cigarette where the fuel was kept.” He said, one father came from Nigeria to Senegal via Gambia and was ‘Traumatised’ by what has happened. He noted that, he still hasn’t found his wife and children. 

“There is no doctor here only nurses, and we don’t have a morgue so we have to bury the bodies immediately.”

The police have launched an investigation into the incident, the mayor said.