Migrants rescued off West Africa top 1,000, MSF says

Doctors Without Borders said 1,046 migrants were rescued off the coast of West Africa in one week after seven boats travelling from The Gambia toward Spain's Canary Islands became stranded at sea.

The charity, also known as MSF, said the boats were intercepted in the last week of August. The survivors were brought to Nouadhibou in Mauritania and to Rosso and Dakar in Senegal.

MSF said the survivors were suffering from problems including extreme dehydration, unconsciousness, bone fractures, extreme fatigue, and skin, gastric and respiratory infections. It said many had witnessed loved ones die during the crossing.

The group said the migrants included 134 women, one of them pregnant, and 88 minors. Most were from Senegal and The Gambia, with others from Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast and other countries.

Thousands of mostly young people have for years attempted the Atlantic route to Europe via the Canary Islands, often using overloaded and unsafe boats. MSF said many survivors reported violence in their home countries and along the migration route.