No fewer than seven individuals have perished and many others are lost after a boat carrying about 200 migrants trying to get to the European continent capsized in waters near Gambia, officials state.
The vessel capsized on Wednesday midnight near the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was afterwards located "grounded on a sandbank", the Gambian military authorities said in a statement.
Nearly one hundred people were pulled to safety and a search is continuing for those still missing who were traveling on the shipwrecked vessel that was heading towards Spain's Canary Islands.
The perilous journey over the Atlantic has emerged as a rising pathway for African asylum seekers seeking entry into the EU.
Close to 47,000 people made it to the Spanish archipelago in the year 2024 and data indicates in excess of nine thousand individuals perished trying.
Search and Rescue Efforts
In the aftermath of the disaster, Gambia's naval forces initiated a rescue mission, involving a number of military boats and a fishing vessel that came to assist, the defence ministry reported.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not Gambian nationals and that their identities are still being verified.
The deceased of the seven people who drowned have been recovered, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
A Common Migration Route
The Gambia is a common pathway used by migrants trying to reach European countries, frequently via hazardous voyages over water and land.
In recent years, the European bloc has established pacts with multiple North African nations with the goal of limiting undocumented migration.
