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Senegalese gendarmes arrested the father of a 15-year-old boy who died at sea while trying to emigrate to Europe, an official with knowledge of the case said on Wednesday.
The West African state official said the father, whose identity is unknown, paid a smuggler the equivalent of 380 euros ($ 450) to take his son to Spain.
Then another contact was meant to take the teenager to Italy to enroll in a soccer training center.
Nicknamed Doudou, the boy boarded a traditional wooden boat in mid-October for Spain’s Canary Islands, according to the official, but died en route.
The local press reported that he died after an illness and was thrown overboard.
Their tragic fate has drawn attention to Senegal, which has recently seen an increase in migrants trying to reach Europe via a dangerous ocean crossing into the Canary Islands.
The archipelago lies more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the coast of Africa at its closest point, and the passage is typically done in wooden boats that are generally crowded and in poor condition.
Migrants have increasingly attempted the Atlantic route as authorities have cracked down on the crossing from Libya to Europe.
The International Organization for Migration said more than 140 people died last month when a ship trying to cross sank off Senegal.
However, the government questions those figures.
Senegal police said in a statement Wednesday that authorities have intercepted more than 1,500 migrants in recent days.
