Senegal intercepts 186 migrants en route to Spain

Migrants disembark from a dinghy at Del Canuelo beach after they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, in Tarifa, sourthern Spain. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Senegalese marines have intercepted 186 people trying to make their way to Spain’s Canary Islands aboard two wooden canoes, the West African state’s military said on Thursday.

A patrol vessel off Mbour, a city south of the capital Dakar, stopped the informal craft during an operation late Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to a military statement.