At least 49 people have died after a boat with several migrants capsized off the coast of Mauritania earlier in the week, according to the African country's coast guard for AFP.
The coast guard was able to rescue 17 people but around 100 people are still missing.
The accident occurred late on Tuesday night when the migrants saw the light from a coastal town and then "moved to one side, which caused the boat to capsize".
The coast guard states that according to the migrants themselves, the boat had left Gambia a week earlier with about 160 people on board from Gambia and Senegal.
The authorities have not stated where the boat was headed.
