Nouakchott / Mohamed El Bakay / Anadolu

Mauritania's coast guard announced on Saturday the rescue of 37 irregular migrants and the recovery of one body, all of various African nationalities, while more than 120 others remain missing after their boat broke down 25 days ago in the Atlantic Ocean.

The coast guard said in a statement that a naval patrol "managed Friday evening to find a boat carrying migrants in a situation threatening imminent sinking within the country's territorial waters."

The statement explained that the intervention "resulted in the rescue of 37 people and the recovery of one body, before the boat sank."

According to the statement, the survivors are of various African nationalities: "22 from Senegal, 7 from Gambia, and 8 from Guinea-Conakry, including one woman."

The statement quoted the survivors as saying that the boat "departed from Banjul in Gambia with about 160 people on board, heading for the Spanish Canary Islands, before it suffered a breakdown and ran completely out of fuel."

According to the migrants' accounts, "the breakdown caused the boat to drift southward through international waters for about 25 days, before entering Mauritanian waters."

They indicated that they "endured harsh humanitarian conditions after running out of water and food supplies about 10 days after the drift began, forcing them to drink seawater to survive."

The Mauritanian coast guard confirmed "the continuation of search operations to trace the rest of the missing passengers."

Following the rescue operation, "the survivors were transferred to the city of Nouadhibou (northwest), where 7 people, including two women and two minors, were rushed to the hospital for necessary medical care."

Mauritania is one of the main transit points used by irregular migrants from sub-Saharan African countries in their perilous attempts to reach the Spanish Canary Islands in search of opportunities for a better life in Europe.