No fewer than seven individuals have perished and numerous others are missing after a boat transporting around 200 migrants trying to get to the European continent capsized in waters near Gambia, reports confirm.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday close to Jinack in the northern bank region and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
96 individuals were pulled to safety and a hunt is ongoing for those still missing who were aboard the shipwrecked vessel that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The hazardous trip over the the Atlantic has become an increasingly common route for migrants from Africa seeking entry into European nations.
Close to forty-seven thousand migrants made it to the Canary Islands in 2024 and data indicates in excess of 9,000 migrants perished in the attempt.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, The Gambian Navy began a rescue mission, involving a number of military boats and a fishing boat that came to assist, the military confirmed.
Officials state some of the deceased are foreign nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who died have been recovered, and ten of the survivors are described as being in critical condition and receiving urgent medical care.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is one of the routes used by asylum seekers seeking to get to Europe, frequently via hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the European Union has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states designed to curtailing illegal migration.
