ISTANBUL

Several people are feared dead after a boat carrying 80 passengers capsized near Morocco on Thursday.

According to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, the boat passengers included its citizens.

In an attempt to reach Spain, the boat had “set off from Mauritania (and) capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla, the statement said.

It added many of the survivors have been lodged in a camp near Dakhla.

Helena Maleno, who leads the Walking Borders migrant rights group, said on X that 44 of those presumed to have drowned were from Pakistan.

Many migrants take this route crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands.