MORE than 60 migrants are feared dead after a Spanish fishing vessel rescued a boat off the Atlantic archipelago of Cape Verde, authorities and migrant groups said today.

Seven bodies were found on the boat, which initially carried more than 100 people, and an estimated 56 people are missing at sea, International Organisation for Migration spokeswoman Safa Msehli said.

According to Senegal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, 38 people were rescued earlier in the week near Cape Verde, about 385 miles off the coast of west Africa.