140 migrants headed for Europe drowned off the coast of Senegal in the deadliest shipwreck of 2020, UN says

• At least 140 migrants headed for Europe drowned off the coast of Senegal in the deadliest shipwreck of 2020, the United Nations said in a statement Thursday.
• On Saturday, a ship carrying around 200 people caught fire and cap-sized a few hours after setting sail for Spain's Canary islands, according to eyewitnesses, the UN said.
• The UN's migration agency estimates about 11,000 people have arrived to the Canary Islands this year, compared to 2,557 up to this point last year. It said 414 people are known to have died this year on the route.

At least 140 migrants headed for Europe drowned off the coast of Senegal in the deadliest shipwreck of 2020, the United Nations said in a statement Thursday.

On Saturday, a ship carrying around 200 people caught fire and cap-sized a few hours after setting sail from Senegal's northwest coast, according to eyewitnesses, the UN said. The boat was reportedly heading to Spain's Canary Islands.

About 40 people were rescued and the remains of 20 people were recovered, according to a statement from the UN's migration agency.

"We call for unity between governments, partners and the international community to dismantle trafficking and smuggling networks that take advantage of desperate youth," Bakary Doumbia, the agency's Senegal chief of mission, said in the statement. "It is also important that we advocate for enhanced legal channels to undermine the traffickers' business model and prevent loss of life."

The Senegalese government and the UN agency both traveled to Saint-Louis, Senegal, near where the wreck occurred, to provide assistance.

The incident followed four other recent shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean and one in the English Channel, the agency said, saying that migrants traveling from West Africa to the Canary Islands have become more common in recent weeks.

The agency estimates about 11,000 people have arrived to the Islands this year, compared to 2,557 up to this point last year. It said 414 people are known to have died this year on the route, according to the Missing Migrants Project.