Mauritania's Ministry of Fisheries announced today, Saturday, that the coast guard managed to rescue 37 irregular migrants and that another migrant's body was recovered from a boat that was heading to Spain's Canary Islands and was on the verge of sinking, while the search continues for dozens of missing migrants.

The ministry said in a press statement today, Saturday, that a coast guard cutter carried out a search and rescue operation that lasted two days, following distress calls that were circulated through Mauritania's traditional fishing channels.

The Ministry of Fisheries explained that the cutter managed on Friday evening to find a boat carrying irregular migrants, which was in a highly dangerous condition and threatened to sink imminently. The cutter's crew intervened and rescued 37 people and recovered one deceased body, while 122 migrants who were among the 160 passengers on the boat were not found.

It added that the survivors were 22 Senegalese, 7 Gambians, and 8 from Guinea-Conakry, and that their boat spent about 25 days at sea.

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It said that the survivors reported that the boat left Banjul, the capital of Gambia, with about 160 people on board, heading for the Canary Islands, before it suffered a breakdown and ran out of fuel, causing it to drift south through international waters before entering Mauritania's territorial waters.

The ministry noted that after about 10 days of drifting, the water and food supplies were completely exhausted, forcing them to drink seawater, and they endured extremely harsh humanitarian conditions.

The ministry said that the coast guard transferred the survivors to the city of Nouadhibou, the economic capital and coastal city, where seven people, including two women and two minors, were rushed to the hospital to receive necessary medical care.