SAINT-LOUIS (Senegal): At least 24 people seeking to reach Europe drowned off northern Senegal when their loaded vessel sank, the governor of the Saint Louis region told AFP on Thursday.

Governor Alioune Badara Samb said 24 bodies had been found since Wednesday after the boat got into difficulty in a particularly dangerous part of the northern coast.

The Saint Louis estuary, where the Senegal River meets the Atlantic Ocean, is notorious for its strong currents and areas of thick mud.

Samb did not say how many people were missing from the vessel, which witnesses said could have been carrying more than 300 people.