A minimum of seven people lost their lives and a significant number are missing after a boat ferrying approximately 200 people seeking to enter European shores sank near the shoreline of Gambia, reports confirm.
The craft flipped late Wednesday night in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank Region and it was afterwards located "stranded on a sandbar", the country's defence ministry stated in a release.
Nearly one hundred people have been rescued so far and a search is continuing for other passengers who were aboard the capsized craft that was en route to the Canary Islands of Spain.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African asylum seekers attempting to get to the EU.
Almost 47,000 people arrived at the Canaries in 2024 and estimates in excess of 9,000 migrants have died trying.
Ongoing Mission
In the aftermath of the disaster, the navy initiated a search operation, using several naval vessels and a commercial fishing craft that joined the effort, the defense officials confirmed.
Authorities say a number of those who died are not from The Gambia and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who died were found, and a dozen of the saved are reported to be in critical condition and getting immediate medical attention.
A Frequent Pathway
This West African nation is a frequent corridor used by migrants seeking to get to Europe, typically through hazardous voyages across ocean and terrain.
In recent years, the EU has established pacts with a number of Maghreb states with the goal of limiting undocumented migration.
