The migrant survivor haunted by his memories
STORY: Under cover of darkness in July last year, Senegalese fisherman Birane Mbaye boarded a boat bound for the Canary Islands.
He was accompanied by his friend Omar Seck and 99 other migrants, united by their hopes for a better life.
It was a journey that ended in disaster.
"We all thought that upon arrival, we would all find work where we could flourish."
Mbaye has returned to Senegal's Fass Boye. His friend Omar didn't make it back.
The passengers on the 870 mile voyage were left adrift in the ocean after their wooden fishing boat ran out of fuel.
"I don't remember the exact moment when we ran out of food. We first started running out of water. We only had biscuits left. We received one package a day, and couldn't even eat it properly because it's dry and needed water. You couldn't even spit. We also drank seawater. It was very hard to drink."
Then, one by one, the migrants started to die.
Mbaye says lowering the dead overboard became a daily ritual.
"Whenever it happened, I thought I would be next, that one morning, I too would be dead and in the sea. Because what killed you, could also kill me."
Mbaye remembers helping to drop Omar's body over the side.
He took his friend's silver ring as a keepsake.
But since returning home, Mbaye has been haunted by vivid nightmares.
"I felt like he was really sitting next to me. I screamed. My wife ran in panic. My mother wasn't present because she was in the fields a little further away. We called for my mother, my father, and my sister to come. When people around me asked what was happening, I told them that Omar Seck was beside me and talking to me. I was crying until my mother arrived."
The stranded migrants were rescued when a Spanish fishing vessel spotted them off the Cape Verde archipelago.
They had drifted 400 miles off course and were nearly as far from the Canary Islands as when they started.
Mbaye was found unconscious. He was rushed to hospital where he was treated for kidney damage.
Only 38 people survived the ordeal.
Seven bodies were recovered, and 56 people reported missing, presumed dead.
Most were from Fass Boye.
On the coastal town's once bustling beaches, wooden fishing boats lie idle.
Depleted fishing stocks and soaring living costs are imperilling livelihoods like Mbaye's.
The birth of his daughter, Maguette, in April last year was a joyous moment - but also a stark reminder of his family's financial insecurity, prompting him to attempt the dangerous journey.
Mbaye is now back working on the fishing boats, even as he battles enduring kidney problems and painful flashbacks.
"When I look at the ocean, I think of all my loved ones who died at sea. It's quite complicated to deal with. But I try to control my emotions. I go to sea to fish, but I no longer enjoy it. If I had a better job today, I would quit fishing."
More than 39,000 migrants, mostly from Senegal and Gambia, made it to the Canary Islands' last year, according to Spanish Interior Ministry data.
Rights group Walking Borders says more than 6,000 people lost their lives on the perilous sea crossing.
But despite all he has suffered, Mbaye says he would attempt the crossing again.
He has his family to think about.
"That's why I won't give up," he says. "I have to go back".
