Official: 300 African migrants drown a month

Ahmed Ould Haya, head of Mauritania's branch of the International Committee of the Red Crescent, spoke a day after reporting the death of at least 45 would-be immigrants in two accidents Saturday and early Monday.

He told the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser that 40 percent of the boats that leave Mauritania for the Canary Islands -- a trip of at least 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) over the Atlantic -- sink or capsize along the way.

Since November 10, between 1,200 and 1,300 people have died trying to reach the Spanish islands from Mauritania, Ould Haya said.

tags: migration  spain  victims  africa