At least 18 African refugees drowned in Comoros after smugglers dumped them overboard just off the coast as they tried to reach the French island of Mayotte, officials and rescuers said Thursday. About 30 other people survived.
The victims were washed up near the town of Mitsamiouli, on the northern tip of Grande Comore, Comoro’s largest island. Many did not know how to swim.
The survivors said they had traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo and were headed to Mayotte, a French overseas territory that often attracts migrants with its French infrastructure and social services.
“We had no bread and no water,” the survivor said.
A 25-year-old survivor recalls his long journey from North Kivu.
“I spent three days in the jungle. Then I took a bus to Dar es Salaam. From there we took a boat. The journey lasted seven days,” he told French news agency AFP.
“Pretty quickly, we could tell the captain was lost. At one point, we had no bread or water.”
Security officials estimate that there were about 50 people on board.
A local resident of Mitsamiouli recalls hearing screams from the water before arriving at the scene. “We were watching the Barça-Newcastle match when we heard screams. We found men, women, children – they thought they had reached Mayotte.”
Instead, they were about 200 kilometers smaller.
Thousands have died trying to reach Mayotte
Mayotte, despite being the poorest department of France – a French regional division – remains a powerful attraction for immigrants from across Africa and the Comoros.
Many people pay smugglers to make the dangerous sea crossing, where thousands have died along the route in recent years, according to the UN migration agency. At least 25 people died when a smuggling boat capsized near Mayotte in 2024, the agency said.
On Grande Comore, residents, fishermen and officials retrieved bodies from the water, according to the Interior Minister of Comoros.
He said the coast guard was still searching for the four missing bodies.
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher