MAMOUDZOU, France: Three people were dead and 13 missing Monday after a boat carrying illegal immigrants capsized in the Indian Ocean off the French overseas territory of Mayotte, the local prefect’s office said.
Eight others survived the accident on the boat, which had departed from the Comoran island of Anjouan, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Mayotte.
The boat capsized 300 meters (yards) off the coast and the search was continuing for other potential survivors, the office said.
Such accidents are common in the area, with several in the last few months including a shipwreck on September 8 that left six dead and 27 others missing and one in July in which seven people died and four went missing.
Mayotte is part of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros. While the three other islands chose independence from France in 1975, it opted to remain under French rule.
Many Comorans hoping to find work or medical care in Mayotte board rickety fishing boats to attempt the risky voyage, often foundering on coral reefs.
Some two-fifths of Mayotte’s 200,000 inhabitants are thought to be illegal immigrants.
Three dead, 13 missing after shipwreck off France’s Mayotte
Three dead, 13 missing after shipwreck off France’s Mayotte
US kills Iranian leader of Trump assassination plot, Pentagon says
- “Iran tried to kill President Trump and President Trump got the last laugh,” said Hegseth
- Hegseth did not name the individual but said the operation took place on Tuesday
WASHINGTON: The US military said on Wednesday that it killed an Iranian official who headed a unit behind an alleged assassination plot against President Donald Trump but that the target was not the initial focus of the war.
“The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump and President Trump got the last laugh,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a news briefing.
“While that was not the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination — in fact, never raised by the President or anybody else — I ensured, and others ensured, that those who were responsible for that were eventually part of the target list,” Hegseth told reporters.
Hegseth did not name the individual but said the operation took place on Tuesday. In 2024, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by the IRGC to assassinate Trump, then US president-elect. Tehran has denied accusations that it had targeted Trump and other US officials.
