Dakar: Local authorities in Senegal's capital reported on Monday that at least 17 people had been discovered dead after a boat capsized.

The bodies were found by the navy early in the morning, and according to Ndeye Top Gueye, the mayor of Dakar's Ouakam neighbourhood where they were found, they are thought to be migrants given the type of boat they were in.

She explained, "We know that it's a pirogue (a long wooden boat) because of the size and shape.

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The number of migrant deaths at sea in Senegal is rising, she said, despite the fact that this is the first time bodies have washed up in the area. 

"This is not the first time; rather, it is the nth time. Countermeasures must be taken by the government.

Where the people were coming from, what their nationalities were, and where they were going were all unknown. 

However, according to a Spanish aid organisation called Walking Borders, the Atlantic migration route is one of the deadliest in the world, with nearly 800 people expected to perish or go missing in the first half of 2023.

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With a peak of more than 23,000 migrants arriving in 2020, the Canary Islands have emerged as one of the main destinations for people trying to reach Spain in recent years.

Fewer boats depart from Senegal; the majority leave from Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. Locals and authorities claim that this year, there has been an increase in the number of boats leaving Senegal.

Extremist violence, joblessness, weak economies, political unrest, and the effects of climate change all contribute to migrants risking their lives to travel to the Canaries on overcrowded boats. 

At least 23 people were killed in Senegal last month during weeks-long demonstrations between police and supporters of the opposition.

Reporters from the Associated Press observed rescuers and volunteers collaborating to pull the capsized boat ashore at the beach where the bodies were discovered. 

While authorities planned a response, the deceased's clothing washed to the side and piled up.

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The incident on Monday is just the most recent in a queue of bodies and rescued boats discovered along Senegal's coast.

Eight migrants were discovered dead earlier this month after a boat capsized off the coast of northern Senegal while trying to reach Europe, and another boat was found off the coast of Saint-Louis in the north with seven bodies and 50 survivors. On that boat, at least 90 people are thought to be missing.