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

Mauritania said it intercepted a boat carrying 161 migrants as they tried to reach Europe, rescuing them off its coast near the fishing village of Amhijrat, north of Nouakchott. The coast guard reported the migrants came from Senegal, Guinea and Gambia, including 17 children. The vessel departed from Banjul, the capital of Gambia, eight days earlier and was attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands. An immigration official told The Associated Press the people were in distress due to a lack of water and food, and that the boat’s engine was extremely worn out and could no longer move forward, leaving it stopped at sea. The 161 are expected to be transferred to a migrant reception center in Nouakchott. UN figures cited a deadly route via the Canaries.